Six Years
by MeganRachel09
Summary: Edward and Bella fell in love in high school. Then Edward left and went to a prestigious college... for six years. When he comes back, will Bella have a little surprise for him? Adult Content. All Human. OOC, ExB.
1. Chapter 1

"Bella, you know you're the only one for me, right?" Edward whispered in his girlfriend's ear one warm summer evening.

"I know," Bella giggled, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks as they sat on her bed in the empty house. "And you're the only one for me."

"I swear I'm gonna marry you one day," Edward breathed into her hair. Bella closed her eyes and soaked in the love radiating from Edward's shirtless form as he leaned down and covered her lips with his own.

Bella smiled into the kiss, trying to ignore the blush climbing its way up her face again as she wrapped her arms around Edward's neck, pulling his body closer to hers. Silently thanking God that her father was at work, she allowed Edward to remove the blue shirt that was sticking to her chest as her hands made her way down to Edward's belt, her fingers fumbling to unfasten it.

Edward groaned as she unzipped his pants and pushed them down his thighs, her hands grazing over his bulging boxers, making him squirm excitedly.

"Sorry," Bella giggled as her hand lingered a moment longer than necessary.

Rolling his eyes, Edward playfully pushed Bella firmly down onto her mattress with one hand over her racing heart. "Your heart races for me?" he murmured, gazing at Bella through his long lashes as she hurriedly nodded her head.

Taking Bella's hand in his own, he pressed it to his chest, covered in sweat from the heat of the summer afternoon. Bella smiled as she felt the erratic pulse of Edward's heart against her palm. "As mine does for you," he whispered as he lowered himself on top of her, his nose skimming over her cheek as he let his lips linger on her neck, kissing her tenderly, yet desperately, a combination that only Edward could pull off.

Bella whimpered pathetically as Edward's hands trailed down her body, lightly unbuttoning her jeans and sliding them down her legs agonizingly slow.

"Edward," she moaned, arching her back as he brought one hand up and cupped her left breast through her black lacy bra.

Edward eagerly reached behind Bella to unhook her bra and watched in amazement as she fell free from her constraints. Biting his lip hungrily, he lowered his head and happily placed his mouth around her breast, her bra laying lost in the sea of clothes strewn on the floor.

Panting, Bella trailed her hands down Edward's toned chest, smiling as she felt his muscles quivering in anticipation of what was to come. Slipping two fingers under the elastic of his boxers, Bella yanked them down his legs and set his throbbing member free. Biting her lip softly, she hesitantly reached down and placed her right hand around his shaft, giving a light squeeze, eliciting a groan from the back of Edward's throat as he threw his head back at the sensation her touch brought to him. Her eyes always on Edward's face, Bella began to pump up and down, smiling as she watched the flashes of deep pleasure echoing on Edward's face as he was lost in ecstasy.

"Oh God, Bella!" Edward growled in ecstasy, opening his green eyes as his seed spilled out into Bella's hand. Leaning down and giving her a hard kiss on the lips, Edward reached down and ripped her panties off of her body.

Bella gasped in anticipation as Edward began to slowly kiss a path down her body, starting at her lips, working down her throat, between her breasts before smothering those, too in kisses before sponging his way down her flat stomach, finally reaching the inside of her thigh, which was quivering in excitement.

"Oh, Edward," Bella whined. "Please, please," she begged as Edward playfully began to kiss his way back up her body.

"What did you want, sweetheart?" Edward asked innocently as he planted a kiss on her lips again. Looking down into Bella's eyes, he smiled as he saw that they were clouded with an uncomfortable arousal.

Bella glared up at him before arching her back once more as Edward placed a finger at her entrance. Ever so agonizingly slowly, he pushed his forefinger into her before swirling them around in her wetness, reveling in the fact that he could bring these reactions out in the beautiful girl lying under him.

Suddenly, Edward pulled his finger out of Bella's folds, making her whimper and open her eyes to pout at him.

"Relax, love. I believe this part will be even better," Edward chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her lips lovingly before positioning himself at her entrance. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Always for you," Bella breathed, grabbing Edward's lightly muscled forearms as he slowly pushed himself into her, stopping when he reached her barrier. "Do it, Edward," she moaned, burying her face in his chest as he pushed forward through the barrier.

He stopped as soon as he was through, looking down at Bella's face in concern. Her eyes were closed as she fought the pain and tried to get used to the feeling of having him inside of her. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Carry on, please," she smiled.

"As you wish, love," Edward chuckled as he pulled out and then pushed himself back in with a slow, tender thrust.

"Ah, Edward," Bella moaned headily.

"Oh my God, Bella," Edward breathed unevenly as he continued to thrust in and out of her slowly. "You feel so good."

"Edward!" Bella exclaimed in elation, unable to say anything else. "Oh God, oh God! This is amazing!"

Bella bucked her hips, meeting Edward's careful thrusts. "Faster, Edward, harder!" she breathed as Edward complied, both of them nearing their peak.

"God, Bella! I'm gonna cum!" Edward groaned into Bella's sweaty neck as he felt her walls tighten around him.

"Oh God, Edward!" Bella exhaled as they came together.

Edward collapsed on top of her, panting heavily as he was still inside of her. He reached for her face, pushing the hair out of her sweaty face as he kissed her cheek lovingly.

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"I love you Bella. I swear I'm going to marry you one day," Edward's voice echoed in Bella's mind as she woke to the feeling of a hyper five-year old jumping on her bed.

"Mommy! Mommy! Guess what!?!" a little boy with bronze hair and green eyes shouted as he collapsed on Bella's stomach.

Bella groaned as she opened her eyes to look at the little boy who so resembled his father.

"Yes, Brandon?" Bella asked groggily, trying in vain to remove the memories from her mind.

"I start kindergarten today!" Brandon exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh do you?" Bella asked, chuckling slightly. "I didn't know that school started on a Sunday!"

Brandon's precious face dropped suddenly. "You mean I don't start today?" the pout on his face almost broke Bella's heart.

"You're only a day early, sweetheart," Bella said softly, sitting up and cradling her son in her arms.

"But I wanna go today!" Brandon whined as a tear escaped his brilliant emerald eyes.

"Well, baby. I can't do anything to change the fact that the school isn't open today, but I'll tell you what," Bella leaned in as if she was telling him a secret. "I'll take you to see Grandma and Grandpa. If you're lucky, maybe Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper will be there."

"And Aunt Rose and Uncle Em?!" Brandon exclaimed, perking up immediately.

"Very likely," Bella nodded seriously, looking down at her son fondly.

"YAY!" Brandon shouted as he jumped off the bed and ran out of Bella's room and down the hall. "Come on, Mommy! Let's go!!"

Chuckling, Bella hoisted herself out of her comfortable bed and walked over to her closet before changing into a pair of grey skinny jeans and a form-fitting green shirt. Walking into the living room, she chuckled to herself as she saw Brandon bounding around the room excitedly.

Bella sat down, her eyes still smiling as she watched her son, and pulled on a pair of black boots that came to the middle of her calves.

"Okay, kid!" Bella exclaimed, heaving herself to her feet. "Let's get going!"

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"Bells!" Alice called from the living room as Bella let herself and Brandon into the Cullens' large white house.

"Aunt Alice!" Brandon shouted excitedly as he took off running in the direction of the living room.

"There's my big boy!" Esme called as Brandon flung himself into the room, laughing wildly as Emmett ran down the stairs towards Brandon, pretending to me a monster.

"Emmett Cullen! Stop scaring my nephew!" Rosalie called from her spot on the couch next to Alice.

"Grampa! Uncle Jasper! Help me!" Brandon called as Emmett ignored his wife and continued to chase him around the living room.

"Oh gosh, Emmett's turned monster again?!" Jasper said in mock-horror.

"I don't know that there's anything we can do to save you," Carlisle said innocently, looking down at his grandson gravely.

"Ah! Help!" Brandon shouted, looking over his shoulder to see Emmett gaining on him.

Rosalie lazily swept her leg out as Emmett ran past, making him trip and fall flat on his face in the middle of the living room.

"Ow!" Emmett whined as he lifted his head to scowl at Rosalie.

"Get him!" Rosalie shouted as she lunged off the couch and landed on Emmett's back, poking and prodding at his sides as Brandon ran over and jumped up next to her, doing the same. Emmett twitched around, shrieking like a helpless little girl.

"Okay, okay! I give up! I give up!" Emmett laughed, holding his arms up at his sides.

"Good," Rosalie said as she stood up and pulled Brandon up at her side. "That goes to show you. Next time, listen to me," she said as Emmett heaved himself to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever," Emmett grumbled as he wrapped his arms around Rosalie's waist and she responded by placing her arms around his muscular neck.

"I love you, you goof," Rosalie said softly, leaning in and kissing Emmett softly.

"I love you too," Emmett grinned sheepishly as he pulled away to see his entire family watching him and Brandon covering his face in disgust.

The awkward silence was broken by Jasper's suddenly ragged breath. "Oh no," he gasped, his hand reaching for his heart dramatically.

"What's wrong, Uncle Jasper?" Brandon asked, fear clouding his eyes as Jasper looked up at him.

"I-I-I'm becoming a monster!" Jasper roared as Brandon screamed and took off out the back door, all the men chasing him outside. Through the great glass wall, the women could see Carlise and Jasper running after a terrified Brandon while Emmett chased after them.

"I'll save you, Brandon!" they heard Emmett shouting.

"Well, I have to go do the dishes," Esme sighed, standing up from her chair and turning to Bella, who still stood in the doorway. "I'll talk to you later, sweetheart," she said, leaning in and giving Bella a comforting hug.

"Okay, Esme," Bella said softly.

"Bells?" Alice said tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Bella looked up, putting a very fake happy façade on. "Me? I'm just fine," she lied.

"Oh, Bella. You really should know better by now," Rosalie shook her head impatiently. "We know you better than that. You can't lie to us."

"Yeah," Alice said softly. "What's wrong?"

Sighing, Bella stepped forward into the room, sitting on the couch inbetween her two best friends.

"I had a dream last night," she said slowly. "About… him."

"You always dream about him," Rosalie rolled her eyes. Alice turned and glared at her. "Sorry."

"What was the dream about?" Alice asked, placing an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Our first time," Bella whispered. Alice and Rosalie stayed silent, unsure what to say to that. Bella continued, "It was so real, like it was actually happening all over. I can still hear exactly what he said to me. 'You're the only one for me. I swear I'm gonna marry you one day,' What a lie."

"Bella, he meant it. He really did," Rosalie said tentatively, not at all sure how to go about comforting her.

"Yeah. Bella, he loves you. He still does," Alice added, shooting a significant glance in Rosalie's direction.

"Have you talked to him lately?" Bella asked.

"Very recently," Rosalie said hesitantly.

"How recently?" Bella whispered.

"Last night," Alice said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Bella's face remained determinedly blank, refusing to remember the countless times she had called him the first few months after he left for college, trying to let him know that she was pregnant with his child. He never answered her phone calls, though, and his family refused to tell him for her, so he still didn't know that he was a father.

_Well as long as he stays away from me, then there's no need for him to ever know._ Bella thought to herself.

"There's more," Alice said hesitantly. Bella looked up to see her and Rosalie in some kind of silent battle.

"What are ya'll doing?" she asked, looking from Alice to Rosalie suspiciously.

Rosalie took a deep breath and wrapped her hand around Bella's. "He's coming home," she breathed quietly.

Bella sat in a stunned silence, trying to comprehend what Rosalie had told her. 'He's coming home.' The words echoed in her mind, refusing to let her get her thoughts straight.

"Oh God," she finally said. "When?"

"Today," Alice whispered.

Bella shot up from the couch and walked away from them, toward the back door.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked, standing up hurriedly and following her.

"I think Brandon and I should go home," Bella said blankly.

"Bella, you're going to have to face him eventually," Rosalie said, suddenly at Bella's other side. "What are you going to do? Take Brandon and leave the state? You know you won't. You love Forks too much."

"I can't see him, Rose," Bella whimpered. "He broke me so badly. I can't face him again. He doesn't even know about Brandon."

"Bella, that's his own fault," Esme said from the doorway. All three girls turned to face her, unaware that she had been there.

"What?" Bella whispered as Emse slowly walked over to them and looked out the window at all the boys playing together.

"I love my son, Bella. You know that and I'm sure you understand better than anyone else," Esme said, gesturing out the window at Brandon, "but he messed up when he left you and I know he regrets that decision every second of every day. If he would have gotten over the fact that he left, he would have answered the phone and he would have known that you were having his child, but his guilt got the best of him. Bella, don't you see? Even if his not knowing about his son were your fault, he would never blame you. He has too much of a guilty conscience. He has always shouldered all the blame and I doubt that he's changed. Wouldn't you rather get it over with? Tell him now, rather than drag it out and wait for him to come see you?"

Bella stared out the window, watching as Brandon rolled in the grass, laughing as Carlisle scooped him up in his arms and twirled him around.

"I don't want to just ambush him the second he gets here," Bella whispered. "I love him too much."

"Bella, he doesn't deserve your love or any mercy from you," Rosalie said harshly. "He should have known about Brandon before he was even born, but he was too stubborn to answer his damn phone!"

"Bella, I love my brother, but she's right. You should tell him as soon as he gets in," Alice agreed.

Bella stood still, contemplating whether to wait for him to get there and tell him instantly, or to wait a while and tell him later, but her decision was made when the front door opened.

"Hello? I'm home!" Edward called through the house.

"Oh, God. I'm not ready to do this," Bella whispered.

"It'll be fine," Esme said quietly before raising her voice to call her son. "We're in here, sweetie!"

"Hey Mom!" Edward said as soon as he stepped into the room. He wrapped his arms around his mother and sighed. "I missed you so much."

Bella breathed deeply in and out as she felt Rosalie and Alice leave her sides to hug Edward as well. He still hadn't seen her.

"Edward! Hey! It's been so long!" Alice exclaimed.

"Hey Edward! You missed my wedding," Rosalie said in an overly-sweet voice.

"Heh, well, you know. School is demanding," Edward said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"My wedding isn't all you missed," Rosalie mumbled before Alice jabbed her elbow into her side.

"What was that?" Edward asked, before his eyes lit upon Bella, still standing at the window, looking like a deer in the headlights. "Bella? Wow," he breathed.

Bella stepped away from the window slowly and, without a word, walked past Edward, and up the stairs.

"Edward, you should go talk to her," she heard Esme's voice follow her as she made her way up to Edward's third-floor bedroom.

Opening the door slowly, Bella stepped in and took a deep breath, waiting for Edward to come. All too soon, she heard the door close softly behind her and, with another deep breath, she turned around to face the love of her life.

"Hey, Bella," Edward said softly, taking a step closer to her, reaching his hand out to touch her arm softly.

Bella took a small step back and Edward's hand dropped to his side. Ignoring the pained expression on his face, Bella turned away from him and walked over to his window, looking out into the yard.

"Are you going to say anything?" Edward asked sadly.

"Six years," Bella sighed without turning around. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her and turned to look at him again. "I haven't seen you in six years."

"Bella, I…." Edward started to say, but Bella cut him off, holding her hand out to stop him.

"No. I don't want an explanation, nor do I need one. You had bigger and better things on your mind than a girlfriend," Bella shrugged, noticing that the pained expression in his face only got worse with each word she spoke. "I get that, really I do, but I have something I have to tell you. And you can't blame me, because I tried to call you everyday for four months before I gave up."

"Bella," Edward tried again, but she interrupted him again.

"No, Edward. Let me say what I have to say, damnit!" Bella exclaimed, slapping her hands to her thighs in exasperation. Edward went painfully still and looked at her expectantly. "Are you going to let me finish?" Edward rolled his eyes and nodded his head. "Okay. I tried calling you everyday for four months to tell you something, not to beg you to come back to me, but to tell you something that I thought you ought to know. When you left me six years ago, I was pregnant. I had your baby five years and a few months ago and the very last time that I heard your voice or tried to call you was on the day Brandon was born when I got your voicemail… again."

Edward stood stock-still as he allowed this information to sink in. "I-I think I need to sit down," he muttered as he wobbled a bit in his spot by the door. Bella rushed forward and helped him over to his bed as he plopped down and sat there, staring off into space while it sank in.

After a moment, he looked up to see Bella looking out the window again. "Why do you keep looking out there?" he asked.

Bella looked up and saw him watching her curiously. She walked over to the bed and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "It's excruciatingly painful how much he looks like you sometimes," she muttered as she led him over to the window and let him look out.

Edward watched his brothers and his father running around the backyard with a little boy, his little boy. The untidy bronze hair would have given it away even if he hadn't just found out about his son.

"His name's Brandon you said?" Edward asked, surprised to find that there were tears streaming down his face.

"Yeah. Brandon Edward Cullen," Bella said, also looking down on the yard, her shoulders touching Bella's.

"When I decided to come back, I did hope to see you again. I wanted to apologize. I hoped that you would forgive me and that, maybe, if you hadn't moved on, you might agree to try again," Edward said quietly, a little embarrassed. "Now I have to work to earn your trust back twice as hard. I screwed up so bad, Bella. I-I totally understand if you don't want me to see him, but I just want you to know that I want to be in his life."

"Edward Cullen!" Bella exclaimed suddenly, looking away from the mirror and pivoting to face Edward. "Did you for one second think that I wasn't going to let you see your son? God, he is going to flip out over this! Today he meets his daddy, tomorrow he starts kindergarten. He'll be twice as excited!"

"Really? You would let me see him?" Edward asked.

"Of course! How could you possibly be dense enough to think otherwise?" Bella answered.

"I don't know. I screwed up so bad…." Edward trailed off.

"Edward," Bella said softly. "That's the past. You're back now and that's all that matters. Besides, if I didn't let you see him, then when he grew older and found out about this, he would probably hate me for the rest of his life!"

Edward stayed silent, still staring out the window until he saw the party head inside and he turned away to face Bella. "Kindergarten, huh?" he asked.

"Yep," Bella nodded.

"You scared?" Edward smirked.

"Honestly? Yes. But he's so excited, so I'm pretending I'm not, just for his sake," Bella said.

"Don't worry about it," Edward said. "I'll be there to help you through the separation," he joked.

"Oh shut up," Bella said, slapping his stomach with the back of her hand. It was amazing how naturally it all came back to her, being friendly with Edward. "Are you ready to meet your son, then?"

Edward took a deep breath and nodded his head. "Yeah. Let's go," he said, his voice cracking a little.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this? sigh Much to my displeasure, I do not own Twilight or any of these characters…. Except for Brandon. He's all mine. ) Not like that, you pervs. He's only like 5. Pshhh.. XD **

**Read on now. **

"Hey Bella?"

Bella stopped on the stairs, turning around to look at Edward, whose face was pale even for his normally pale complexion.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm kind of freaking out here. I have no clue what to do. I don't know how to... do this…" he trailed off, his wide eyes showing his panic.

"Edward, you don't have to meet him if you don't want," Bella said quietly, walking up the few steps that separated them and taking his hand in hers, tenderly placing her other hand to the side of his face. "I understand if you're not ready."

"I want to be ready," Edward sighed, "but I don't think I am."

She tried to hide the pain in my eyes before he noticed, but didn't catch herself fast enough.

"It's not because of you or anything, but I just… I mean, I have to wrap my mind around it a bit, you know?" he added quickly, squeezing her hand, his green eyes boring into hers.

"I didn't want to ambush you with it," Bella muttered. "They kind of made me tell you as soon as you got home."

Edward chuckled. "Well, that's my family for you."

"Yeah," Bella smiled softly. "I should probably get down there. I have to take Brandon to see Charlie and I have to go to the store."

"Right, right. Um, sure. I'll see you later?" Edward said nervously, letting go of her hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Yep," Bella said, making the sound pop. "I'll talk to you later. It's really good to have you back."

With that, Bella turned around and walked down the stairs, leaving a panicked looking Edward standing on the stairs.

Edward ran his hands through his hair as he breathed in and out, leaning his back against the wall firmly, looking for support.

He had come home with every intention of making it up to Bella for leaving her, but now he had so much more to deal with. He had a son that he hadn't known existed.

Turning his head to the side, Edward watched as Bella walked away from him and shook his head at his stupidity. This beautiful, forgiving woman was giving him the chance to see his son after completely abandoning her and here he was, saying that he needed time to come around to the idea.

With one last deep breath, Edward pushed himself away from the wall and silently followed Bella down the stairs, stopping before anyone would be able to see him.

"Mommy! Where have you been?" Brandon exclaimed, running up to Bella as soon as she stepped down from the last step. Edward's breath hitched in his throat as he looked down on his son, unnoticed to anyone.

"I was just upstairs for a second, why?" Bella replied enthusiastically, squatting down to be eye level with Brandon.

"Uncle Jasper was gonna eat me and then Grampa got changed too and he was chasing me. And Uncle Em tried to help me, but he fell on his face and tripped Uncle Jasper who said a _bad word._ And then Grampa caught up to me and he picked me up, but Uncle Em was up by then and he saved me," Brandon said in one breath, his green eyes wide as he looked up at his mother.

"Sounds like you had fun," Bella said, a smile evident in her voice.

"Bells? Where's my brother?" Alice said suddenly.

"Oh, he's just… resting. Lot's to do, you know?" Bella answered, unsure of how to answer as she stood up to her full height again.

"Idiot," Rosalie muttered under her breath, making Edward straighten his back indignantly in the shadows.

Edward surveyed the scene as his family all looked at Bella, pitiful expressions on their faces mixed with disappointment with Edward. Bella, however, refused to meet their faces, staring determinedly at the painting that hung above the grand piano in the living room, her hand resting on Brandon's head, twirling her fingers in his hair absent-mindedly.

Edward's eyes were drawn to his son and he was shocked to find curious green eyes staring back into his own. As if entranced, Edward stepped forward from the wall and out of the shadows. Brandon's eyes grew even wider when he saw Edward's messy bronze hair and drew his hand up to touch his own, a wide toothy smile crossing his face as he wondered who the familiar stranger was.

Bella turned around to see what had captured Brandon's attention and saw Edward staring at him, looking lost as to what to do next.

Looking around, she saw that everyone else was staring at Edward as well. Jasper was the first to recover from the shock.

"Well, Alice and I have to go… to the store," Jasper said suddenly, grabbing Alice's hand and leading her toward the front door.

"Emmett, I need your help in the garage for a second, okay?" Rosalie said. Emmett wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together they walked out to the garage.

"I've got work to do," Carlisle said, heading for the stairs, clapping Edward on the shoulder as he passed, leaving just Esme with Edward, Bella and Brandon.

"I have to rearrange Carlisle's office," Esme said, at a loss for a better excuse as she hurried up the stairs after Carlisle.

"I wanna go play in the garage with Uncle Em and Aunt Rose," Brandon said, starting to follow them to the garage, but Bella reached out and grabbed his tiny arm.

"Brandon, wait a second, sweetie," Bella said softly, still looking at Edward, trying to see if he wanted to do this now. Edward's eyes never left Brandon, however and he didn't give a clue as to how he wanted to be introduced.

"Why?" Brandon asked, looking from Bella to Edward, still trying to figure out why he looked so much like him.

Bella turned to Edward as well, unsure how to proceed.

"Hey, Brandon," Edward said suddenly, lowering himself to his knees so he was closer to eye level with his son.

"Hi," Brandon answered politely, peering up at him. "You look like me."

"I know," Edward chuckled.

"Why?" Brandon continued.

Edward's eyes flickered up to Bella, looking at her questioningly as she lowered herself down next to him and looked at Brandon as well.

"You look so much like Edward here because," Bella said softly, "he's your daddy."

Edward smiled at Brandon when his wide eyes lit up in joy and he jumped up and down.

"I have a daddy!" Brandon exclaimed.

Edward smiled sadly. He had missed out on so much of his son's life, not even knowing he existed just because he was too scared to pick up the phone. Scared of what, exactly? He wasn't positive, but he assumed it had something to do with being afraid to come home.

He was positive that if he had answered Bella's phone calls, he would have ended up coming home immediately, no matter what she said and that had scared him because he was worried that he would regret her.

The past six years of his Bella-less life had been excruciatingly boring and busy. Going to school during the summer sessions in order to graduate earlier had been his only compensation. The sooner he graduated, the sooner he could see His Bella again. Of course, on some level, he had to have known that nothing could ever be the same with her. He had left her broken and, unknown to him, pregnant.

Now he had graduated from his pretentious medical school and had gotten a job at his father's hospital, but he was still single, still pining for Bella. He had a feeling that Bella still loved him, but he knew he wasn't going to get back into her good book that easily. He had left her to raise a son on her own, whether or not he had known about Brandon, and he knew it would be hard for her to forgive him for that.

"I have a son!" Edward finally replied, realizing that Bella and Brandon were waiting for him to say something.

For the next couple of hours, Edward got to know his son, but something was gnawing at him the whole time. He had a bone to pick with his family.

When Bella and Brandon had to leave, Edward walked them to the door, giving Bella a rather awkward hug.

"Bye Daddy!" Edward's heart skipped a beat hearing Brandon call those words over his shoulder as he and Bella walked to her car.

After waving them off, Edward turned to call his family downstairs only to find them all standing at the foot of the stairs looking at him guiltily.

"I figured you wanted to talk to us," Alice said quietly.

"Damn straight I want to talk to ya'll," Edward growled, stalking past them and into the living room.

**Alright so I know this hasn't been updated in FOREVER, but I finally got back into the groove of this story. I know this chapter is boring and just blah, but it'll get better… I hope. XD. So, I would really appreciate comments telling me if I should continue and maybe how Edward could win Bella back? Because I'm kind of at a loss for that. Also, I know it's kind of short... but bear with me. I'm still getting my bearings back on this story.  
**

**See that handy dandy review button down there? It's magical! Click it! You'll see! **

**Thanks for reading! **

**XOXO- Katie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Alas, young ones, no I do not own Twilight, but I do own two super-cool guitars. :) Now, read!! **

"What the hell is wrong with you? All of you?" Edward hissed as his family joined him in the living room, all of them looking harangued except for Rosalie, who rolled her eyes. "What could have been running through your minds that would make it seem acceptable to hide from me the fact that I have had a son for the past five years of my life?"

"Maybe the fact that Bella, the mother of your child, tried to call you and tell you herself, but you so pig-headedly refused to answer your phone! And as long as we're criticizing our errors in judgment, I'd like to put this out there. What could have been running through _your_ head that would make it seem acceptable to totally play Bella the way you did for three whole years? You went out with her for two years, told her you loved her, that she was the only one for you, sleep with her and leave her for college, furthermore ignoring her calls to you and even her messages! Seriously, Edward, she left you voice messages!" Rosalie exclaimed, trying to catch her breath as her words echoed passionately around the room surprising everyone.

Edward stared at his sister-in-law silently, his eyes never leaving her angry face.

"You can judge me all you want, Rose, but you don't know what was going through my head," Edward said calmly after a moment.

Alice took a deep breath before taking a step closer to her brother. "That's what she was asking, Edward. What were you thinking?"

Edward took a glance at his pixie-like sister and seemed to crumble. He let himself fall onto the couch behind him, his head in his hands as his parents hurried to sit next to him and Alice crouched down in front of him. Emmett walked over to stand next Alice, leaving a glaring Rosalie with Jasper, both of them feeling like outsiders among a troubled family.

This feeling surprised Jasper in particular. The Cullens had always welcomed him and Rosalie into their family graciously and he had never felt uncomfortable around them before. Briefly pausing to glance at Rosalie, Jasper hesitantly walked toward the couch and knelt down next to Alice as Rosalie kept her distance. Her angry eyes sliced through Edward, who kept his head down, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.

"Edward, what were you thinking?" Carlisle asked softly, all judgment carefully kept out of his tone.

Edward lifted his head from the comfort of his hands and looked around at his family, his face betraying every traitor emotion he had kept hidden from everyone for the past few years: pain, sorrow, grief, _regret_. Esme's hand found its way to her son's back, rubbing comforting circles through his shirt as he opened his mouth to speak.

"You have to know that I meant every word I said to her. I loved her with all my heart, I still do. I would never lie to her. I would never be able to. But there was just so much pressure on me when it came time to start considering colleges. I got accepted to the big, fancy places and I convinced myself that I had to go there instead of just sticking around here to be closer to Bella," Edward said in a tortured tone.

Rosalie's eyes met Edward's sharply as she let out an impatient sigh, wondering when Edward would get to the redeeming part of his story. Edward met her eyes sadly, before continuing.

"I swear I never meant to hurt her. I thought that, if anything, it would hurt me in the end. I always planned to come back after I graduated. I knew I would never get over her, but I never would have held it over her head if she got over me. I would have understood completely, but this is one thing that I never expected at all. It's just…. Look, I didn't _ignore_ her phone calls. Quite the opposite, actually. I just felt that I shouldn't talk to her on the phone when there was so much I wanted to say to her face-to-face."

"So you didn't answer. That made it all better," Rosalie said sarcastically. Emmett turned to look at her disparagingly, begging her with his eyes to stay silent.

"I wasn't trying to make it better, I just wanted to talk to her in person. That's why every day she called me, I got in my car and started the four hour drive back home only to convince myself that leaving just then would be wrong, I hadn't experienced enough of college to leave so soon. Each day, I made it a few minutes farther than I had gone the previous day, but it always came back to not wanting to regret my decision. I didn't realize that those were the very decisions I would regret," Edward let out a bitter laugh, his eyes brimming with moisture. "The ironic thing is that, after she stopped calling everyday, when she called me on the day Brandon was born, I drove the whole way back here. I got to Forks and then…" Edward's voice was barely above a whisper at this point. "I convinced myself to turn around."

The silence in the air was palpable as Edward's confession hung around them.

"Damn it!" Edward growled. "Why am I so stupid?!" he sobbed.

Even Rosalie bit her tongue at Edward's obvious disdain with himself.

"Edward, sweet heart," Esme started to say, trying to comfort her son.

"Save it, Mom," Edward interrupted, heaving himself to his feet. Alice stood up as well, a good feet or so shorter than him and looked up at him. "I'm gonna go for a drive."

Edward trudged his way to the front door, picking up his keys from the table and opening the door.

"Edward," Alice said softly. Edward turned around to look at his sister, his eyes devoid of emotion. "Her address is 756 Twilight Avenue."

Edward just looked at Alice for a few seconds before turning and walking out the door and getting in his car.

He needed to drive. He needed the speed. He didn't know where he was going, but he was flying down the driveway and onto the highway without a backwards glance.

After a half an hour of driving way too far over the speed limit around the town of Forks, Edward started to slow down to a slightly more acceptable speed and, acting impulsively, made a sharp U-turn, heading in the opposite direction he had been going in just as flashing blue and red lights caught his attention from behind.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Edward sighed. Of course he chose today to get caught speeding. As he pulled over onto the shoulder, Edward allowed himself a second of panic. Bella's father was sheriff. Surely the man hated him by now. With his luck today, he would end up in jail. Then he remembered that Bella had said she was taking Brandon to visit Charlie and relaxed exponentially as a familiar-looking officer walked toward him.

"Ben?" Edward asked, disbelief coloring his tone. Ben Cheney was a police officer? The revelation shocked Edward, as well as comforted him. Edward could easily talk Ben out of writing a ticket.

"Edward?" Ben asked, his tone just as surprised as Edward's. "Hey, man! It's been forever! How are you?"

"I'm alright," Edward said. "Glad to finally be back. How are you?"

"I'm great man. Angela and I got married a couple years ago," Ben smiled proudly. "Thanks again for setting us up."

"No problem, man," Edward smiled.

"So, have you seen Bella?" Ben asked hesitantly, his eyes darting away from Edward nervously.

"Uh, yeah," Edward answered. "I'm actually on my way to see her again."

"Oh. So, ya'll are all caught up?" Ben asked, obviously afraid to mention Brandon in case Bella hadn't informed Edward of that yet.

"Well, not _all caught up_, but I know about Brandon, if that's what you're asking," Edward answered.

"Ah, yeah," Ben cleared his throat. "Did you see him?"

"Yes," Edward said. "He's amazing, a true miracle. I've known of his existence for barely a few hours and I already love him more than life itself."

"Kids can do that to you," Ben smiled.

"Yeah," Edward agreed, wondering if Ben and Angela had any children yet.

"I can't wait until I'm a father," Ben said, as if answering Edward's thoughts. "Angela's three months pregnant."

"That's great, Ben," Edward said sincerely.

"Yeah. Bella's been a great help to us. She helps Angela out at work when she's feeling down and she's given us some great advice," Ben told Edward.

"That's nice of her," Edward said, feeling a pang of regret that he didn't have any firsthand advice to give Ben. He knew plenty about pregnancy, of course, seeing as he was a doctor, but it wasn't the same thing as actually physically being there during a loved one's pregnancy.

"Yeah. Well, I have to get back to work. I'll let you off on a warning, Edward. At least try to drive the speed limit if that's at all possible," Ben pleaded.

"Of course, Ben," Edward agreed, nodding convincingly and putting the key back in the ignition as Ben walked back to his police cruiser and pulled up next to Edward, rolling down the window.

"How long are you in town for?" Ben called over to him.

"I'm back for good, man," Edward called back.

"Awesome! We have to get together and do something," Ben suggested. Edward nodded his head and watched as Ben drove away before slowly pulling back out into the street.

--Bella's POV--

My head was reeling as I drove home from my father's house. Of course, as soon as we got to Charlie's, Brandon ran up to my father, excitedly telling him all about his daddy. I watched cautiously as my father's face paled.

Charlie's relatively new wife Danielle noticed as well, and pulled Brandon away from Charlie and up the stairs to play with her seven-year-old son Alex, the product of her previous, failed marriage.

My dad, needless to say, was unhappy with Edward's return and my willingness to let him into Brandon's life. Of course, I didn't tell him about the fact that I was still hopelessly in love with the Greek god that had broken my heart after graduation.

Glancing into the rearview mirror to look at my son's peacefully sleeping form, I smiled softly to myself as I noticed for the umpteenth time the similarities he had with his father and pulled into the driveway of my house, seeing the car parked on front.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked toward the house and saw my Greek god himself standing up from the top step and walking over to the car. I hurriedly got out of the car, ridiculously eager to see him again.

"Hey," he said quietly, stopping in front of me, his eyes sweeping over my face, which I'm sure looked tired.

"Hi," I breathed. "How long have you been waiting?"

Edward shrugged in response. "I wanted to talk to you some more, if you don't mind," he added.

"Of course not," I answered, opening the back door of my car to get Brandon out.

"I can get him, if you want," Edward said somewhat nervously.

"That would be absolutely amazing," I said gratefully. "I'm still a bit of a klutz."

Edward smiled at me and stooped down to gently pick up Brandon. I shut the door behind him as Edward slowly walked back toward my house.

I quickly caught up to Edward and unlocked the front door for him, turning on the foyer light as I entered, Edward right behind me.

"His room is this way," I said softly, leading the way up the stairs and into Brandon's room.

I flicked on the light switch as I walked in and turned to face Edward, who smiled at me and softly lowered Brandon into his bed.

"I always wanted a racecar bed," Edward chuckled as he turned to face me.

"Oh. Yeah, Brandon saw it and wouldn't stop begging me for it as soon as he was old enough to sleep in a real bed," I informed him.

I smiled as I watched Edward brush his fingers lightly over Brandon's bronze hair fondly in a fatherly gesture. My eyes welled up against my will and I fought to keep the tears back.

Edward looked at me and immediately pulled his hand away from Brandon, obviously afraid that I was upset at how close he seemed to be to Brandon.

I shook my head and looked away from him quickly. I felt his warm hand on my chin, forcing me to look up into his worried eyes. I was suddenly aware of our close proximity and felt my heart speed up. It was like we were back in high school, Brandon being the only evidence on the contrary.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked. "I'll leave if you don't want me here."

"No!" I said quickly. "I just missed you so much."

I blushed and looked away. Edward softly brushed his fingers against my cheek.

"You have no idea," he murmured, his eyes boring into mine intently. I worried for a brief second that he was going to kiss me. I wasn't ready for that. I knew that we would probably end up getting back together eventually; the sensations coursing through my body were reason enough to believe that, but I wasn't ready for that just yet.

Edward backed away from me slowly and I wondered, not for the first time, if he could read my mind.

"Let's go talk," I whispered as Brandon stirred in his bed. Edward nodded and followed me out of the room after another glance back at Brandon.

"It's scary how naturally it comes, isn't it?" I asked as I led him down the stairs and into the living room, turning on the lights as I went.

"What?" Edward asked.

"The parenting instinct," I answered, lowering myself to sit on the couch as Edward sat down next to me. I was thankful for this because I was immensely enjoying having him so close to me.

"Yeah. It is," Edward agreed softly, glancing up the staircase before looking back at me.

The next hour and a half was spent with me regaling Edward with tales from the past six years and the adventure that was parenthood. I also told him about my father and his recent marriage to Danielle, who was ten years his junior, but I approved of immensely. I also told him about Ben and Angela, but he was unsurprised to learn that they had gotten married and that Angela was pregnant.

He told me that he had run into Ben on his way over here and that they had chatted for a few minutes. I rolled my eyes, imagining the pretenses under which they had met up again. No doubt Edward had been speeding and Ben had pulled him over.

"So, how angry was your father when he found out I was back?" Edward asked suddenly.

"Very," I said simply. Edward sighed heavily.

"That sucks," he said blankly.

"Yeah. He doesn't think I should let you back in my life or see Brandon," I said, completely at a loss as to _why_ I told him that.

"Oh," Edward said and I could hear the panic and pain in that one simple word.

"But don't worry. I'm not going to listen to him," I added quickly. "You can see Brandon and me as often as you want as long as you're around."

"I'm here for good," Edward told me.

"Oh. That's great," I said happily, but not fully trusting him. He had left once before. How was I supposed to know that he wouldn't leave again. Was I simply subjecting Brandon to the pain that I had experienced when Edward left six years ago?

I looked at Edward's sincere expression and immediately regretted the thoughts that had just flitted through my mind. I was opening my mouth to say some more when, instead I yawned hugely.

"Sorry. I'm keeping you up," Edward said immediately.

"No, it's fine. Brandon just woke me up really early this morning," I explained as Edward nodded.

"Well, I should let you get to sleep," Edward said awkwardly.

"Alright," I said, noticing the reluctance on Edward's face as he stood and started towards the front door. I was sure the look was clearly reflected on my face.

"Wait," I called. Edward turned around to look at me. "You could just stay here if you want."

Edward looked at me gratefully. "That would be really amazing of you," he said. "I'm kind of not talking to my family."

"Why not?" I asked, though I already knew the answer to that. Because they hadn't told him about my pregnancy.

Edward didn't answer me, but looked away from me, confirming my suspicions. I sighed and walked over to him. "Edward, please don't be angry with them for not telling you I was pregnant. They thought it wasn't their news to tell and that it was the sort of thing I should be the one to tell you," I said.

"You're right," he said, looking at me, but I saw the doubt in his eyes.

I sighed and grabbed his hand in mine, pulling him over to the stairs. "Come on."

I pulled him up the stair and down the hallway to my room, letting go of Edward's hand to turn on the light.

I was halfway across my room when I noticed Edward wasn't following me anymore. I turned to see him standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"Are you coming?" I asked.

"Is this your room?" he asked me.

"Yes," I answered, confused as to why he was so hesitant.

"Are you sure you want me to stay in here?" he asked me, looking nervously at my queen-sized bed.

I started to laugh, seeing the humor in the situation. Edward turned to look at me strangely, and I walked over to him, pulling him into the room and over to my bed.

"Come on. It's not like it's the first time you've slept in my bed, you big baby," I teased, although I felt a flutter in my stomach at my words.

**Alright, so there's that chapter, obviously. Hahah. I like this chapter. I don't know, it's like… you really see into Bella's mind kind of…? Haha. Whatever. Got anything you would like to see happen? Leave it in a review. Read the chapter? Leave a review. Like Twilight? Leave a review. Basically just leave a review. :)**

**Oh and I know ya'll were looking forward to Edward being pissed off and yelling at his family, but it just didn't fit in. I was planning on having him yell, but then I thought of this and I changed it. Haha. **

**Does anyone else simply love Ben and Angela? Because I do. They're super cool. **

**Now click the handy-dandy review button just down there. **


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Me no owney Twilight so stop asking

**Disclaimer: Me no owney Twilight so stop asking!! **

**Also, some of you seem to be surprised about Bella's forwardness and you've got the wrong impression. She isn't jumping into bed with him, well I guess she is **_**literally**_** but she's not going to sleep with him.**

**Her thought process: They're two 24 year-olds and they're familiar with each other in ways that they aren't with anyone else. She thought it would be easy this way. **

**Also, as WeasleyWeakness said in a review, they love each other and they still need each other after all these years and after everything that's happened, Bella cant deny herself the happiness that Edward brings to her. Plus, she's a little paranoid that he's going to take off again so she wants to make the most of whatever time they have left together and she wants Brandon to get to know his father. She isn't being a total pushover; she's in love and can't deny her heart. It's much like Bella in New Moon. She just forgave Edward the moment he came back. **

**As for a job, well… you'll see later on in this chapter. And… KINDERGARTEN!! Haha. **

**I gave Charlie a new family because I thought he deserved one. I mean Renee has Phil and Bella has Brandon. Plus, I needed Brandon to have someone to play with when he went to Charlie's and I figured another kid was the best way to go. Charlie's step-son. **

**Okay I think I've talked enough. Now read the chapter! **

**P.S. I like writing in first person POV, I think I'll stick with that. Some Edward POV later, maybe? **

--Bella POV--

Note to self: sharing a bed with Edward was harder than I thought it would be. It put a whole new meaning to Alice's old high school couple nickname for us: _Bedward_.

I lay awake for hours that night, just thinking about Edward and Brandon and my job. Oh how I hated that job. I was a secretary at the prominent Crowley Services office.

Crowley as in Tyler Crowley. I know the reason I got the job and it wasn't because I have great experience; I didn't even get to go to college. I got the bloody job because Tyler has a not-so-little, definitely not-so-innocent crush on me. It's even worse than it was in high school too because he's my boss, so he thinks he can hit on me even more without any repercussions. I swear, everyday, I think about quitting that godforsaken job, but then I think of Brandon. I need the money to support him.

Edward shifted next to me and I became desperately aware of the fact that his body was mere centimeters away from mine. I remembered how we used to lay when we were in high school, his arms wrapped around my stomach, pulling my back into his chest. Oh, how I wished we were still like that.

I shook my head as I felt myself beginning to get aroused. No, no. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. We were supposed to go to sleep and then wake up. End of story, no temptation here. Oh, who am I kidding?! The only reason I wanted Edward to sleep in my bed was so I could feel him next to me, the way I've dreamed of for the past six years.

Edward mumbled in his sleep. I thought I was the sleep talker? I remembered the stories Edward would tell me, letting me know all the embarrassing things I had said during the night. Hmm, maybe I could learn some more about Edward.

"Mmmm, Bella," Edward mumbled. I froze. Oh God. The love of my life is having a sex dream about me with me in the bed right next to him. Awkward to the extreme.

"Bella, don't leave me," Edward sighed. "I love you. I never stopped loving you."

Maybe it's not a sex dream, just a… love dream? That's different.

"Please, I need you with me."

He was begging me not to leave? Well that's ironic. He was the one that was so good at leaving.

"Bella, please, you're my life," Edward mumbled again and I felt the tears start to flood to my eyes. "I swore I would marry you. I still want to."

Oh… my… God. Edward wants to marry me! What the hell? If he still loved me like that then why the heck did he leave?!

"Please, Bella, I need to hear that you still love me," Edward pleaded in his sleep. I looked at him. His face was pleading too. I shifted so that I was on my side, facing him.

"Edward, I do love you. I never stopped, but I can't be with you just yet. I'm not ready to be with you on that level again, but I will be in time," I whispered slowly.

"Thank you," Edward mumbled again. "I'll wait."

I smiled at the sweet innocence in his voice and rolled over to try to get some sleep only to feel two strong arms wrap around me and pull me into his chest. I was now full-on grinning as Edward nuzzled his head into my neck.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the shrill ringing of Edward's cell phone and his arms were wrenched from around me as he fumbled to answer his phone.

"Hello?" he said in a hoarse voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. At Bella's. Yes. Alright, I'll be there. Bye."

I looked at the clock next to my bed and saw that it was seven o'clock. I sat up and stretched my arms over my head and turned to look at Edward. He was slipping his phone back into his pocket. He looked adorable, his hair even messier than usual from sleeping, his shirt all wrinkled.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to me. "That was my dad. I'm supposed to meet him at the hospital at noon today."

"It's okay. I need to get Brandon up anyway. Kindergarten, remember?" I told him as he stood there, looking slightly awkward. I wondered if he remembered his dream from last night and looked away quickly.

"Yeah, I know," Edward nodded. "I, um, was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I came with you to bring him?"

I glanced up at Edward, seeing his hands shoved deep into his pockets and he was rocking back and forth on his heels nervously.

"Of course you can come. I'm sure he would only be that much more excited to have you there," I smiled as I rose from my bed and walked to past Edward to my closet to get some clothes. "I have to take a shower so if Brandon wakes up while I'm in there… I'm sure you can keep him entertained."

"Okay," Edward agreed, walking toward the door as I headed for my adjoining bathroom.

I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. I dried my hair and straightened it before putting on a light layer of eyeliner and some mascara.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped into my bedroom, slipping on a pair of black dress shoes. Walking toward the bedroom door, I smiled as I heard the unmistakable sound of Brandon's laughter and Edward's melodic laugh.

"Brandon, come back here!" I heard Edward laugh as I approached Brandon's bedroom. Leaning in the doorway, I saw Brandon running around his room in just his jeans while Edward stood by the closet with Brandon's shirt in his hands.

"I don't wanna get dressed!" Brandon laughed as he jumped up on his bed.

"What is going on in here?" I asked, pretending to sound angry. Both Edward and Brandon turned to look at me guiltily.

"Umm, getting ready for school…?" Edward answered, gesturing to the shirt he held in his hands.

"And how's that working out for ya?" I smiled.

Edward grinned that crooked grin at me as I walked over to him and took the shirt from his hands and headed over to Brandon, pulling the cloth over his head swiftly.

"Show off," Edward muttered, suddenly standing right behind me.

"It's called experience," I replied with a smirk as Brandon ran past us and went down the stairs.

"Yeah I guess," Edward nodded.

"You changed your clothes…?" I said suddenly, realizing that he was now in a pair of black slacks and a button-down blue shirt, his hair neater than it had been.

"Oh. Yeah," Edward replied. "I never got the chance to unpack my car yesterday, so I still have like all of my bags in there."

"Ah I see," I said as we followed Brandon down the stairs, finding him sitting at the kitchen table impatiently waiting for his breakfast. I got down his favorite cereal, Corn Pops and poured him a bowl, adding milk and grabbing a spoon from the drawer and placing the bowl in front of him. "Do you want anything?" I asked, turning to Edward.

"No. I don't eat breakfast," Edward shook his head.

"Some things never change," I smirked as Edward shrugged.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked me.

"Oh, I don't eat breakfast either," I replied, making Edward smile at me brilliantly.

"Some things just never change, do they?" he mocked me. I poked my tongue out at him childishly before turning to make Brandon's lunch as Edward sat with him at the table, talking about random things.

I listened to their conversation, smiling. It was great to see how well they got along already. I knew Edward would be a great father, but I never guessed that he would be this good or that it would come this naturally to him.

"Mommy said I'm gonna make lots of friends," Brandon was saying as I finished making Brandon's lunch and put it on the counter, sitting down at the table with them.

"I'm sure you will," Edward replied.

"Of course you will. Everyone loves you," I added.

"But what if they don't?" Brandon asked, nervous for the first time about starting school.

"Sweetheart, they are going to love you, don't worry," I said. "And Alex is going to be there too, if you need anything."

"But he's not going to be in my class, is he?" Brandon asked.

"Well, no, but he'll be there," I answered. "And Dani is going to pick both of you up after school."

Edward shot me a questioning look.

"My dad's wife," I told him. Edward nodded his head, looking oddly relieved.

Shortly after, Brandon finished eating and we headed off to bring him to school, Edward going in his car and me and Brandon in mine since I had to go to work and he had to meet his father at the hospital later.

We pulled up to the elementary school and Edward pulled in next to us. I stepped out of the car and opened Brandon's door as Edward came to my side, handing Brandon his school bag.

On the car ride, Brandon had gotten over his nerves and instead had gotten extremely excited. He bounded on ahead of Edward and me, his book bag bouncing up and down on his back as he ran towards the doors.

"So… how hard was it for you to drive so slow on the way here?" I joked, bumping Edward's hip with mine as we walked side by side.

"I was pretty tempted to speed up ahead of you, but I think I'll survive driving slower," Edward grimaced, giving me a slight nudge with his elbow as we caught up to Brandon outside of his classroom, where an elderly woman was talking to Brandon.

"Hello, you must be Brandon's parents," the woman said, looking up at us.

"Yes," I said. "I'm Bella and this is Edward."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Graham, I'll be Brandon's teacher," she introduced herself, then turned to Brandon. "Brandon? If you'd just go in the classroom, I'm sure you'll make some new friends."

"I wanna say goodbye first," Brandon said and turned to face Edward and me.

"Hey, kid," Edward said, kneeling down to be eye-to-eye with Brandon. "You have fun and learn and be good and all that great stuff."

"Brandon, listen to the teacher and be nice to the other kids," I added, squatting down next to Edward.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be fine. Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!" Brandon rolled his eyes, giving each of us a hug before running into the classroom.

I turned to Edward who looked a little staggered and realized that that was the first time he had ever hugged Brandon.

"You okay?" I asked, touching my hand to his arm lightly.

"I'm fine," Edward answered. "It just isn't fair."

"What isn't fair?" I asked.

"He's so grown up already. I didn't get to see him as a baby or anything," Edward whined as we started to walk out of the building after looking back into the classroom to see Brandon talking animatedly to a little girl.

"Aw, don't worry about it. He's still got plenty more growing up to do and you'll get to see all of that firsthand," I tried to comfort him.

"Yeah, I know. But it's not the same," he shrugged. "Oh well. I'll deal. It's my own stupidity that kept me away, right?"

"No," I said faintly.

"Yes it was. I know that. Nice try, though," Edward said, leaning against the passenger door of his car as I stood by my door.

"Edward, I have to get to work," I said reluctantly, glancing at my watch before looking back up into his face. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. I'll drop by tonight, if you're okay with that," Edward offered, pushing himself away from the door.

"Sure. That would be great," I answered as Edward stood in front of me hesitantly. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his torso as his wound their way around my back. "Bye," I whispered as I pulled away from him and opened my door.

I got in my car and, just before my door shut, Edward spoke up again. "I love you," he said and the look on his face clearly told me that it just came out.

"I know," I whispered. "I love you too."

The surprised look on Edward's face was burned into my memory as I closed the door and drove away.

**Heeeeey guys! So, I gave you a long Author's note up top, so I'll keep this one short. Deal? Deal. Leave a review telling me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you wanna see or just to say you read it! K, bye!! **


	5. Chapter 5

--Bella POV--

--Bella POV--

The next few weeks passed and we had settled into a pattern. Every morning, Edward would show up before Brandon had to go to school, we would drop him off and go our separate ways. After work, I would go pick up Brandon from my dad's house and bring him home and Edward would drop by a few hours later after he got off of work. Some nights, he spent the night; others, he went home.

It was a Friday night and I was sitting in my living room, basking in the rare silence that surrounded me. My father and Danielle had so kindly offered to have Brandon spend the night at their house, giving me a night to relax.

I was reading _The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet_ for about the hundredth time when someone knocked on the door. Putting down the book, I stood and walked to the door, opening it to reveal a disheveled looking Edward.

"Edward? Are you okay?" I asked. "Brandon isn't here. He's spending the night at my Dad's house."

"I know. Alice told me. Actually, I wanted to talk to you if you don't mind," he said, running a hand nervously through his hair.

"Sure. Come on in," I said, standing aside to let Edward enter. I led him to the living room and sat back down on the couch. Much to my disappointment, Edward sat in the chair opposite me. "What's up?"

"So I think I owe you an explanation," he said, his voice cracking. I stared at him, making sure to keep my face carefully blank. "About why I left, I mean."

"What about it?" I whispered.

"Ah, Bella. I know you think I left because I didn't really love you, but that's not true. I left for you. I left so that I could get a better education and a better job, so that I could provide you with a better living than I would have been able to otherwise," Edward explained.

"You didn't need to become a doctor for me to love you. I would have loved you if you became a teacher or had some low-paying job," I told him, looking away as I felt the waterworks about to start.

"Bella. Love, don't you see? I didn't think I deserved you. I felt that I had to make something of myself in order to deserve you," Edward pleaded with me to understand.

"And ignoring me fits in there how?" I countered.

"I… didn't ignore you purposely. Or not to hurt you, at least. I thought… if I didn't speak to you it would be easier for me to concentrate on my schoolwork," Edward said. "That was my biggest mistake. You know, every single time you called me, I got in my car and started to drive back here?"

"I actually did know that," I whispered. Edward looked at me surprised. "Alice and Rose don't keep anything from me."

"Of course," Edward sighed. "And I just… I'm not trying to make excuses, I just wanted to try to make you understand that I never meant to make you doubt my love for you."

"Okay, but if you loved me so much, why did you break up with me? People keep up long distance relationships in college all the time," I inquired.

"Bella, I didn't want you to feel obligated or miss out on any college experiences because you were waiting for me to get home," Edward explained sadly. "I didn't want you to regret me."

"I thought it was so that you couldn't miss any college experiences…" I said as a few tears fell down my face.

"Love, I never had any college experiences like that. You are the only person I have ever been with," Edward whispered. "You're the only person I've ever wanted to be with and that's never going to change."

I stared at him, tears now flowing freely down my face.

"I'm sorry. This is too much for you. I didn't mean to freak you out, I only hoped that if I explained myself to you, you might be able to… not forgive me, but not hate me," Edward said, getting up to leave.

He was at the door before I came to my senses. "Edward! Wait!" I called out, running outside to see him standing in front of his car. He turned to look at me, sadness seeping from his eyes.

"You don't ever have to ask me to forgive you. I've come to realize over these past few weeks that I am incapable of holding a grudge against you. I've never hated you. I would never be able to hate you," I sobbed, standing just outside the door. "I love you too much."

All of a sudden, I don't know how, but Edward was there and his lips were on mine, urgently but lovingly at the same time. Then we were back inside the house and my back was pressed against the wall, my legs wrapped tightly around Edward's waist.

"Oh God, you don't know how long I've wanted this," Edward whispered as he released my mouth and instead attacked my neck, showering me with kisses.

"Yes, love, I do. I definitely do," I whispered back, pulling his face back up to mine and kissing him deeply, putting all the love I could summon into the kiss. Edward responded immediately, his lips gliding across mine smoothly before they parted and his tongue ran along my bottom lip, begging for entrance, which I immediately granted.

Edward moaned into my mouth the second our tongues touched and the sound had my eyes rolling into the back of my head in pleasure as I tightened my legs around him, pulling his arousal closer to me.

"Bella, Bella, I love you so much. You know that, right?" Edward whispered into my ear and I noticed that we were now in my room and Edward's hands were gripping my bottom tightly, holding me securely to him.

"Yes," I breathed back. "You're my life too."

"What?" Edward panted as he lowered me to my feet but kept his hands tightly around my waist as if he were afraid to let go.

"The night you came back. You were talking in your sleep and you told me I was your life," I responded as he continued to shower my face and neck in kisses.

"It's true. You are my life," Edward said against the skin at the base of my neck. "And so is Brandon."

"I know, Edward. I know," I panted as his hands made their way to the bottom of my shirt and pushed it up a little before he stopped and pulled his face back to look at me.

"Are you okay with this? I just, I don't want us to move too fast," Edward said, his eyes showing his concern.

"Edward, I want this. Please," I panted as his hands made their way further up my body, pulling the shirt up painfully slowly.

"I didn't come here with this in mind," Edward whispered softly. "I want you to know that. If you want to stop, tell me."

Unable to form a sentence, I let my hands trail up his chest slowly, coming to a stop on the top button, which I promptly slid out of its hole, moving in to kiss the newly exposed skin of his chest. Edward groaned, music to my ears, and let his hands run further up my torso, brushing against the sides of my breasts and pulling my shirt over my head. I shivered as he kept his hands on my waist before he worked his magic back up my torso and around my back, unclasping my bra and allowing my breasts to fall free of their constraints.

His eyes stayed locked on mine as he leaned in to kiss me before he leaned his head down to place a kiss just above my right breast, pulling back to survey me longingly.

"Mmm, Bella, you're even more beautiful than I remember," he whispered, leaning his head back down to shower my breasts in kisses, one hand kneading my left breast as he licked my right breast lovingly, pulling my nipple into his mouth and making me moan his name softly before he switched tasks, his hand massaging my right breast and his mouth on my left.

I noticed we were on the bed and wondered how I had spaced out so much until the sensations in my body cut off all thought process. _Oh, that's how._

Edward's hands moved down to the button on my pants, but I swatted them away. He pulled away to look at me, no disappointment showing in his expression, merely love.

I rolled us over so that I was on top of Edward and leaned down to kiss him quickly before my hands started working on unbuttoning his shirt.

"You are far too covered up, love. I can't have you hogging all the fun, now, can I?" I mumbled against his skin as I kissed down his firm chest, massaging his shoulders and chest with my hands before sliding my hands under his shirt and slipping it off of his shoulders and sliding it down his arms to rest on the floor at the side of my bed.

Edward trembled beneath me, moaning my name as my hands wound their way torturously slow across his chest, down his stomach, and came to a rest at the top of his jeans, my fingers playing with the clasp of his belt buckle as I enjoyed knowing I could still bring out these reactions in my true love.

Having done away with the belt, I began to work on the button of his jeans, quickly getting it undone and sliding down the zipper, pulling his jeans down his muscular legs slowly, leaving him in only his boxers, which were straining against his erection, which I fully intended to free from its constraints, but Edward turned us over again.

"Nuh uh, love. We aren't equal in the amount of clothing yet. It's only fair," Edward said, his voice husky as his eyes smoldered into mine. His hands trailed down from my shoulders, brushing against my stiff breasts and down my flat stomach, stopping at my jeans, which he quickly unbuttoned and unzipped, but slowly, oh God, so slowly, slid down my legs, kissing my thighs, my knees, every inch of skin he exposed before the rough material was finally in a pile at the foot of my bed.

"Oh God, Edward, please," I begged as he kissed his way back up my body, his lips skipping over mine and covering every other inch of my face in kisses before he finally covered my lips in a kiss so passionate it had me gasping for breath, my hands tangled in Edward's hair.

Edward slid his hands back down my body and under the elastic of my underwear, which quickly disappeared from my body before his boxers were discarded as well and his erection was positioned at my entrance.

"Are you sure about this?" My love asked, his eyes smoldering with love as I nodded and he pushed into me smoothly, making me cry out in pleasure immediately, my arms wrapping around his back to pull him closer to my body, loving the feeling of us being one again.

My eyes brimmed over at the sheer pleasure and intensity of the moment, tears which Edward happily kissed away as he slowly pulled out of me only to thrust himself back in, making me cry out again as he groaned, a sound of sheer bliss at the back of his throat.

After only four slow, deep thrusts, we both climaxed together, but Edward didn't stop thrusting into me and I was quickly brought back to another peak. I was teetering on the edge of another orgasm, I could feel it coursing through my body, but the slow pace Edward was keeping wasn't doing it for me.

"Please, faster Edward! I want, I need…" I panted, desperately trying to form a coherent sentence to get Edward to pick up the pace, but he kept his slow pace and my pleasure slowly, but surely enhanced.

I could feel him getting stiffer inside of me. He was about to come again, and so was I. As I felt the waves of pleasure beginning to hit, I wrapped my legs around Edward's waist, drawing him deeper into me. The sheer intimacy and slowness of the act only enhanced my pleasure and I cried out incoherent words loudly as I felt him spill his seed inside of me for the second time that night and he kept on thrusting into me until we had ridden out the waves of pleasure.

Edward collapsed on top of me, totally spent, showering my face with loving kisses before he rolled off of me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his back just like he used to do.

I turned around in his arms so that I could lay my head on his chest and pulled the covers over our naked bodies.

"I love you so much it hurts for me to be away from you," Edward whispered against my forehead as he twirled a strand of my hair around his fingers absentmindedly.

I smiled against the warm skin of his chest and closed my eyes. "I know exactly what you mean," I whispered before I fell asleep to the erratic sound of Edward's racing heart.

The next morning, we both jumped awake to the sound of the door slamming open downstairs.

"Bells?" I heard my dad shout through the house and I felt the blood drain from my face as I looked down at Edward's and my naked bodies.

"Shit," I whispered, jumping out of my bed and scrambling to collect my clothes as Edward did the same. We dressed quickly and flew out of the room and down the stairs before my father could make his way upstairs, me in front of Edward.

"Hey Mommy! Did you miss me?" Brandon exclaimed, flying into my arms and hugging me tight before he saw Edward. "Daddy! You're here! Hi!"

It was Edward's turn to be squeezed to death by our son as I turned to face my father and saw that Danielle and Alex were with him.

"Hi, Dad," I said quietly as my father glared at Edward, who was focusing intently on hugging Brandon and not looking at my father.

"Hello sweetheart," Danielle said, walking forward and enveloping me in a hug as my dad continued to glare at the love of my life.

"Hey Bella," Alex waved to me.

"Hey Alex. Get over here and give me a hug," I said, pulling the little boy into my arms as Brandon danced back over to us. I looked over my shoulder to see my father and Edward standing in front of each other, my father looking like he wanted to kill Edward, who stood his ground in face of a withering stare that any other man, even Emmett, would have run from. _He must really love me._

"Brandon? Why don't you take Alex upstairs to play in your room," I suggested quietly.

"Okay!" Brandon exclaimed eagerly, running up the stairs with Alex.

"You've got some nerve, you little punk," Charlie growled in Edward's face the second Brandon and Alex disappeared from view.

"Dad," I warned, but he ignored me.

"How could you possibly show your face in this town after what you put my daughter through?" Charlie said, louder this time.

"Dad," I warned a little more vehemently as I went to stand next to Edward, wrapping my hand around his and squeezing tightly.

"And you, young lady!" Charlie said, rounding in on me. "How can you just let him back into your life? He broke your heart, what makes you think he won't do that again?"

"I'm sorry if I love him, Dad," I said sarcastically. "But I'm not a teenager anymore! As much as I want you to approve of my choices, I don't need you to. Edward is Brandon's father. He's the love of my life and I know that he regrets not being here when I was pregnant. I don't need you to believe that, but it's the truth."

"Charlie. I really didn't mean to cause any drama, but I love your daughter. I always have loved Bella and I'll never stop loving her. Leaving her for college six years ago was the biggest mistake of my life and I don't even understand how Bella's been able to forgive me, but for some reason she has," Edward said.

I heard Danielle sniffling behind me and turned to see her with tears running down her face. I smiled at her, knowing exactly what had gotten to her. Edward always did have a way of effecting people.

"I'd like to talk to you outside," Charlie said, his voice slightly calmer.

I turned my head back to shoot a warning look at my father. "Dad…" I started to protest.

"No, I'll go. It's alright. I'll be right back, love," Edward said, kissing me softly before turning and leading my father outside.

"So that's Edward," Danielle sighed. I nodded at her and glanced nervously at the closed door behind which I could hear the dull hum of my father and Edward's voices. "Brandon does look just like him."

"I know," I sighed. "He's going to be such a chick-magnet."

Danielle laughed, thinking I was joking.

"No, I'm serious. When we were in high school, the entire female population hated my guts because Edward chose me and not them," I stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Danielle said and then sighed. "Look, Bella, I know you love him, but you have to see where your father's coming from here. He had to take care of you when Edward left you brokenhearted and pregnant. He's afraid to see you like that again. Trust me, it's every parent's worst nightmare to see their children like that."

"I know, Danielle, but I know Edward isn't going to leave again," I said, tears in my eyes as my eyes darted back to the front door. I still couldn't make out any words, but I knew Edward was talking. I recognized his voice. "He won't."

"I believe you, honey," Danielle sighed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "He's fine, sweetheart. You know your father wouldn't hurt him. It would kill Brandon if anything were to happen to Edward, and Charlie wouldn't do anything to hurt Brandon."

"True," I said as we both turned our attention back to the door when it opened and Edward and Charlie walked back in.

Edward smiled at me reassuringly as I rushed over to his side and wrapped my arms around his back.

"Love, I told you I'd be right back. Why were you so anxious?" Edward asked.

"Like you said last night, I love you so much it hurts to be away from you," I whispered. Edward dipped his head down and kissed me softly but passionately.

"I'm here now, Love. Don't worry."

**Yay. Yet another chapter. So, umm… I don't know if I did the lemon well considering that I'm a virgin and I really don't know anything about sex… so yeah. Haha **

**Umm review and tell me if you liked it? Hated it? Or if you just have something you want to see later on. Yes. Review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Grrr, no I still don't own Twilight. I know, I know, I'm working on convincing Steph to sell the copyrights to me, but she seems to think that a 16 year old isn't exactly the best owner for such genius work. Pishaw. I'll show her just how wrong she is. **

--Edward POV yay!--

As soon as I pulled up in front of my house after work on Friday, Alice came bounding excitedly out of the house and over to my car. She pranced impatiently outside of my door as I stepped out of my car and stared at her, waiting to hear whatever it was that had her so excited.

"Brandon's spending the night at Charlie's tonight!" she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Alright, so… what exactly is so exciting about that?" I chuckled, not fully understanding her extreme excitement.

"Edward!" My sister exclaimed, exasperated. "This is the perfect opportunity for you to go see Bella and have that heart-to-heart I know you've been meaning to have with her!"

I froze and turned to look at my sister. Sometimes it scared me how much she knew without me even having to tell her. I ran my hands through my hair as I considered my options. It would be a good time for me to explain myself to Bella, but I didn't want her to feel like I was trying to manipulate her into forgiving me or getting back together with me.

"God, Edward. I know you want to go, so just go already!" Alice rolled her eyes, stretching up onto the tips of her toes on order to put her hands on my shoulders and push me back towards my car.

I let her shove me into my car and put the key in the ignition. Before I knew it, I was speeding back down the driveway and onto the highway, reaching Bella's house in record time.

Jumping out of my car, I ran up the front steps to her porch and knocked on the door, running my hands through my hair again as I waited for Bella to open the door.

A moment later, the door opened and there was Bella, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, wearing a baggy blue shirt and loose pajama pants. I had never seen anyone more beautiful in all my life.

"Edward? Are you okay? Brandon isn't here. He's spending the night at my Dad's house," my angel told me.

"I know. Alice told me. Actually, I wanted to talk to you if you don't mind," I said, worried that she didn't want me here.

"Sure. Come on in," Belle said, moving aside so that I could walk past her into the house before leading me into the living room and sitting on the couch. I walked across the room and sat on the chair opposite her, ignoring the urge to sit next to her and hold her in my arms. "What's up?" she asked.

"So I think I owe you an explanation," I said nervously as Bella stared at me, her face devoid of any emotion. "About why I left, I mean."

"What about it?" she asked quietly, looking away from me and absentmindedly playing with the worn binding of the book that sat next to her on the couch: _The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet_.

"Ah, Bella. I know you think I left because I didn't really love you, but that's not true. I left for you. I left so that I could get a better education and a better job, so that I could provide you with a better living than I would have been able to otherwise," I blurted out, not even knowing exactly what I was saying.

"You didn't need to become a doctor for me to love you. I would have loved you if you became a teacher or had some low-paying job," Bella told me, looking at the wall behind me as I saw moisture building up behind her eyelids.

"Bella. Love, don't you see? I didn't think I deserved you. I felt that I had to make something of myself in order to deserve you," I said, desperately wanting her to understand.

"And ignoring me fits in there how?" Bella had a good point. I cringed, unsure how to answer.

"I… didn't ignore you purposely," I said carefully, trying to phrase my thoughts correctly. "Or not to hurt you, at least. I thought… if I didn't speak to you it would be easier for me to concentrate on my schoolwork. That was my biggest mistake. You know, every single time you called me, I got in my car and started to drive back here?"

"I actually did know that," Bella told me. I looked up at her, confused. "Alice and Rose don't keep anything from me," she explained.

"Right," I nodded my head. "And I just… I'm not trying to make excuses, I just wanted to try to make you understand that I never meant to make you doubt my love for you."

"Okay, but if you loved me so much, why did you break up with me? People keep up long distance relationships in college all the time," Bella said sadly. It broke my heart to know just how much I had made her doubt my love for her.

"Bella, I didn't want you to feel obligated or miss out on any college experiences because you were waiting for me to get home. I didn't want you to regret me," I whispered, trying to let her see that I really did love her.

"I thought it was so that you couldn't miss any college experiences…" Bella said as the tears started to fall from her eyes. It took all I had in me not to lunge across the room and wrap my arms around her thin frame.

"Love, I never had any college experiences like that. You are the only person I have ever been with. You're the only person I've ever wanted to be with and that's never going to change," I told her, desperate to comfort her in some way with honest words.

Bella stared up at me, shock and disbelief mixed in her expression as she cried freely now. I quickly stood and took a step towards the door, horrified that I had somehow managed to say the wrong thing, yet again.

"I'm sorry. This is too much for you. I didn't mean to freak you out, I only hoped that if I explained myself to you, you might be able to… not forgive me, but not hate me," I said as I hurried away from my love.

I was standing in front of my car when Bella's angelic voice reached my ears. I turned around to face her, unashamed as a few tears trailed from my eyes as well.

"You don't ever have to ask me to forgive you. I've come to realize over these past few weeks that I am incapable of holding a grudge against you. I've never hated you. I would never be able to hate you. I love you too damn much," Bella sobbed, putting her face in her hands.

I stared at my love, my heart breaking all over again as she sobbed into her hands, her shoulders shaking with emotion. I ran as fast as I could up the steps and wrapped my arms around her. Without quite realizing what I was doing, my lips were on hers.

Not wanting to freak her out, I started to pull away, but Bella wound her hands around my neck and pulled my face closer to hers. I lifted her from the ground, reveling in the feel of her body pressed against mine after all these years, and moved us into the house, backing Bella into the wall as I felt my knees begin to weaken. Bella wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me closer and pushing away any thoughts I had previously of pulling away.

"Oh God, you don't know how long I've wanted this," I whispered, moving my lips from hers so we could breathe and covering every inch of exposed skin I could find with my mouth.

"Yes, love, I do. I definitely do," she whispered back, pulling my face back up to hers and into the most passionate kiss I'd ever had. I immediately ran my tongue along her bottom lip, needing to taste her in any capacity I could.

Bella opened her mouth eagerly and I slipped my tongue in, groaning in pleasure as I finally got to taste her again. She tightened her legs around me and wound her hands through my hair tightly, leaving no room between our bodies. This did nothing to prevent my extremely uncomfortable erection as I felt her rubbing against me.

I wrapped my arms more tightly around Bella, holding her securely as my feet worked their way up the stairs. All the while, my head was shouting for me to stop, pull away, that we were moving too fast.

"Bella, Bella, I love you so much. You know that, right?" I whispered, setting her feet on the ground once we reached her room. Bella's eyes were slightly glazed over as she looked around, seemingly confused as to how we had gotten to her room.

"Yes. You're my love too," she responded, placing a tender hand on my cheek.

"What?" I asked, confused as to how she knew I felt that way. I was fairly certain I hadn't told her that since I returned.

"The night you came back. You were talking in your sleep and you told me I was your life," Bella told me as I constantly kissed her face and neck, unable to resist the temptation.

"It's true. You are my life," Edward I mumbled, flicking my tongue out to lick the base of her neck quickly. "And so is Brandon."

"I know, Edward. I know," Bella said as I ran my hands down her body from her shoulders to her waist, slipping them up under her shirt before I realized I didn't know exactly what she was comfortable with.

I leaned my head back to look at her, starting to remove my hands from her waist. "Are you okay with this? I just, I don't want us to move too fast," I asked.

"Edward, I want this. Please," she replied, closing her eyes as I slowly slid my hands further up her body, pushing her shirt up as I went.

"I didn't come here with this in mind. I want you to know that. If you want to stop, tell me," I said, suddenly realizing how it must seem. I had come to Bella's house knowing that Brandon was gone, telling her how much I loved her and how sorry I was for leaving and now here we were, about to sleep together.

Instead of a verbal response, Bella trailed her hands up my chest slowly, unbuttoning the top button of my shirt and then kissed my chest, a simple act that had me fighting to contain myself and take this slow. I quickly finished removing her shirt, purposely brushing my hands along the sides of her beautiful breasts, eliciting a shiver from Bella. I then reached my hands behind her to undo the clasp of her bra, keeping my eyes on her face, re-memorizing every feature from her deep brown eyes to her high, arching eyebrows, her full pink lips, her high, prominent cheekbones. The color of her blush would be forever forged into my memory and I wondered how I had managed to forget it in the first place.

Finally unable to keep myself from viewing the rest of her, I let my eyes travel further down, taking in the form of her beautiful full breasts.

"Bella, you're even more beautiful than I remembered," I whispered, leaning my head down to shower her breasts with attention. I slowly moved her backwards and laid her down on the bed as I massaged her breasts and licked at them, being rewarded with sensual moans from my love. I was reaching down to remove her pants when she swatted my hands away.

I pulled away, respecting her wishes and just looked at her. I was so in love with the beautiful woman beneath me. I was caught off guard as Bella pushed me off of her and swung her leg over my waist so she was straddling me and she started unbuttoning my shirt, kissing every inch of my chest with kisses as it was exposed inch by inch.

She said something about needing to have her fun, but I was too focused on the sensations Bella's touch was bringing me, her bare chest pressed up against mine, her lips moving sinfully slowly along my chest. It was almost too much to bear as she slipped the shirt off of my shoulders and moved down to work on my pants.

Every scrape of her fingernails on my chest, the press of her moist lips on my bare chest, had me shivering in anticipation of what was to come. As Bella's hands fumbled with my belt buckle, she seemed to enjoy my reactions to her every touch. Finally getting my belt out of the way, Bella started to work on my jeans, quickly getting them unbuckled and unzipped, sliding them down my legs slowly before letting me kick them down the rest of the way. Bella crawled back up my body, brushing against my erection on the way, and kissed me on the lips sweetly.

As her hands reached back down to remove my boxers, I stopped her, flipping us over again so that I was back in control. "Sorry Love, but we aren't equal in clothing just yet," I muttered, staring at Bella as her eyes smoldered with lust and even more love. "It's only fair."

I brought my hands up to Bella's face, cradling it as I kissed her softly, before trailing my hands down her body slowly, deliberately rubbing my hands against her breasts, making her nipples form even stiffer peaks. I slowly trailed down her flat, firm stomach to her pajama pants and slowly, ever-so slowly, slid them down her legs, kissing her perfect thighs, her knees, her calves, her ankles; every inch of her legs that was exposed to me.

"Oh, God. Edward, please!" Bella moaned, making me smile as I kissed my way back up her legs slowly and sensually. I reached her face and kissed every inch of her beautiful face before finally covering her lips in a passionate kiss. Bella tangled her hands in my hair, a reaction that I had always loved, and gasped for breath, her chest heaving against mine, only making me more aroused.

I quickly slid my hand back down Bella's body and under her lacy underwear, pulling it down her legs, leaving her completely naked beneath me. Oh, the beauty. How did I ever get so lucky? I would never understand. Unable to wait any longer, I quickly leaned back on the heels of my feet and removed my boxers before crawling back over Bella to position myself at her entrance.

"Are you absolutely positive about this," I asked. Bella nodded, bucking her hips against mine involuntarily and I slid into her easily. Bella cried out in pleasure as I groaned, and I saw a few tears leaking out of her eyes. For a moment, I froze, afraid that I had hurt her after all, but then I realized they were happy tears. I leaned in and kissed them away willingly, brushing her cheek with my hand as we were one.

I waited a moment for Bella to get re-accustomed to my size before beginning to thrust my length in and out of her. I was determined to take this night slow. I wanted to be sure I made up for lost time. I would show her all the love I felt for her in my slow, loving thrusts, meeting all her wants and needs.

Much too soon we climaxed together, after only a few short thrusts. I was still hard inside of her and she was still wreathing beneath me, so I continued to thrust into her, keeping my slow pace. I kept my eyes open and on Bella's face the entire time we made love, watching the flashes of pleasure that crossed her face. I was proud to think that I could still have this affect on Bella, even after six years of no sex.

"Please, Edward. Faster, harder. I want, I need…" Bella panted beneath me. I knew that she was nearing her second peak; I could feel her beginning to tighten around me, and as tempted as I was to thrust harder into her, I wanted to keep this gentle. There would be plenty of time for pure lustful sex later, tonight was about showing her how very much I loved her.

I could feel my second release around the corner as Bella wrapped her legs around my waist, drawing me deeper into her. The tightening of Bella around me and the new depth to which I was drawn did nothing but speed my release up. I felt myself empty into her and heard her cry out in sheer bliss as I murmured her name over and over again, kissing her lips, her cheek, her forehead, anywhere I could reach and continued to thrust into her, riding out the last waves of pleasure.

After I had regained control of my body, I stopped thrusting into Bella and instead collapsed on top of her, continuing to kiss her face over and over again lovingly. I rolled off of her, groaning at the friction of removing myself from her, and pulled her towards me so that he back was resting against my chest.

Bella turned around in my arms to look at me and pulled a sheet around our naked bodies. As I stared intently into her brown eyes, I knew that I would never get tired of her. I would never leave her again, I knew that. She was my other half, she always had been, but it had taken six years of separation to make me realize that I couldn't bear to part from this woman who was lying in my arms.

"I love you so much it hurts for me to be away from you," I whispered, determined to make her realize just how deeply I felt for her.

Bella smiled against my chest and kissed me right over my heart. "I know exactly what you mean," she said sleepily before she rested her head on my chest right where she had just kissed me.

"Bella," I whispered softly, twirling a strand of her hair between my fingers absentmindedly. "I just wanted you to know that you're the one for me. I know that and intend to make you my wife. I know I said that when we were in high school and then I left you, but I'll never do that to you again. It would kill me if I left you and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Bella didn't reply and, for a moment, I panicked, thinking that she didn't want the same things as me, but then I realized that she had fallen asleep. Gently brushing her hair out of her face, I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before wrapping my arms more tightly around her waist and settled down to watch Bella sleep. It was only about 8:30, much too early for me to go to sleep, after all.

I guess I had fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, I was jerked awake by a loud noise downstairs. For a moment I didn't know what was going on or where I was, but when I saw Bella next to me and her panic-stricken face, I realized what was going on: Charlie.

"Bells?" I heard the familiar voice call up the stairs, but didn't quite realize what was wrong with him being here as I was trying to hold onto the best dream I had ever had, one where Bella and I were married and happy, with a new baby in our arms.

"Shit," Bella whispered, jumping out of bed and pulling me from my memories. I followed her as she scrambled on the floor to pick up her clothes and we got dressed quickly. Bella ran out the door while I was still buttoning my shirt and started down the stairs with me following her.

I finished buttoning my shirt just as we came into view of the people down the stairs. Brandon saw Bella first and launched himself at her, hugging her tight around the waist. "Hey Mommy! Did you miss me?!" he exclaimed excitedly as Bella nodded enthusiastically.

Brandon released Bella from his clutches and saw me, running over to me. I crouched down in front of him as he threw his arms around my neck. "Daddy!! You're here too! Hi! I thought I saw your car, but I wasn't sure. I'm glad you're here. I missed you!" he rambled on excitedly as he let me go and started to fill me in on what he had done at school yesterday.

"…And the teacher said that Monday we're going to do an art project and draw our families!" Brandon was saying when Charlie walked over to us, placing a hand on Brandon's shoulder.

"Brandon, why don't you go talk to your Momma?" Charlie suggested, turning my son to face Bella, who was standing with a woman and a young boy, whom I assumed were Charlie's new family.

As Brandon pranced away from us happily, Charlie glared down at me. I quickly stood up straight, refusing to back down from the intense glare that Bella's father was giving me. Bella told Brandon to take Alex upstairs to play and then hurried over to my side as Charlie got ready to attack, it seemed.

"You've got some nerve, you little punk," he said angrily, getting in my face as Brandon and Alex disappeared up the stairs behind me.

"Dad," Bella said angrily.

"How could you possibly show your face in this town after what you put my daughter through?" he growled louder this time.

"Dad," Bella said more forcefully, putting her hand in mine and giving my hand a slight squeeze.

"And you, young lady! How can you just let him back into your life? He broke your heart, what makes you think he won't do that again?" Charlie rounded in on Bella this time. I felt her cringe slightly next to me and she pressed her body closer to mine.

"I'm sorry if I love him, Dad, but I'm not a teenager anymore! As much as I want you to approve of my choices, I don't need you to. Edward is Brandon's father. He's the love of my life and I know that he regrets not being here when I was pregnant. I don't need you to believe that, but it's the truth." Bella retorted, standing her ground to her father.

Charlie opened his mouth to reply, looking put off, but I decided it was time for me to speak up.

"Charlie. I really didn't mean to cause any drama, but I love your daughter. I always have loved Bella and I'll never stop loving her. Leaving her for college six years ago was the biggest mistake of my life and I don't even understand how Bella's been able to forgive me, but for some reason she has," I intervened. Bella turned her head to look behind us at Danielle before whipping her neck back to face Charlie when he finally seemed able to speak again.

"I'd like to talk to you outside," he told me, his voice still angry, but exponentially calmer.

Bella started to protest, but I cut her off. "No, I'll go. It's alright. I'll be right back, love," I said before I bent down and kissed her cheek softly and walked out the front door, Charlie following uncomfortably close behind me.

I leaned against the railing on the front porch as Charlie paced around in front of me, looking uncomfortable.

"I feel like Bella's in high school again," he finally muttered to himself.

"Sorry, what?" I leaned forward, confused.

"You know, you have to have those awkward conversations with the boyfriend, asking what their intentions are and warning them that if they ever lay a hand on her or hurt her in any way, you'll tear them limb from limb," Charlie expanded, looking at me for the first time since we had gotten outside. "But this warning goes double for you because there's a kid involved and, I know you're willing to do all this stuff with him now, but I don't think you fully understand what a responsibility it really is to be a father. I don't want you to realize in a year or two years, after Brandon and Bella have gotten good and attached again, that you don't want the responsibility. Fatherhood isn't always walks in the parks, laughing and chasing him around the house. You have to do some pretty tough things. You have to learn when to lay down the law with him, you have to teach him to be a good person and raise him to be a good person."

"Charlie, I know you don't trust me after what I did, but I can honestly say that if I could change any one thing in my life, it would have been the decision I made to leave in the first place, and if I could change another thing, it would have been the decision I made each and every time Bella called me to hit that ignore button. I would do anything if it meant that I could go back in time and just be here when Brandon was born, if I could have taken care of Bella when she was pregnant. You have no idea how hard it is for me to look at Brandon, knowing that I had nothing to do with the person he is today, that I wasn't around to hold him when he was a baby, I didn't get to hear his first word, see him take his first step. But I can play a role in the person he becomes later in life. Knowing all the things I've already missed out on, I know that I could never leave again. I need to be here for Brandon as much for my own sake as for Brandon's. I need to be in Bella's life. I have never stopped loving her and I know that I never will. My intentions with Bella are to marry her, to love her every day of my life and never leave her again. I swear I'm not going to hurt her again."

Throughout my entire speech, Charlie stayed silent, his eyes watching my face, which I could only hope portrayed every emotion I was feeling and showed the sincerity I felt.

"Alright then," Charlie said. "I guess I approve of that."

I smiled at Charlie as he patted me on the shoulder awkwardly and we started towards the door.

"I don't forgive you for leaving, but I can accept the fact that you're here to stay. You sure do make that little boy happy," Charlie added before he pushed open the door and we walked back inside.

The second I stepped over the threshold, Bella launched herself into my arms, holding me tightly to her body.

"Love, I told you I'd be right back. Why were you so anxious?" I asked, even though I was happy to have her back in my arms again.

"It's like you said last night. I love you so much it hurts for me to be away from you," Bella whispered against my chest. I smiled widely and kissed her softly, lovingly, on the lips.

**Yeah, I just really wanted to do that in Edward's point of view. I thought it was interesting. It was longer than the Bella version, but seriously, it makes sense for a guy's version of a lemon to be longer than a girl's, riiiight? Haha. So I'm in love with this story and I have some things planned for later on in the story. More kindergarten scenes and all and how about a Bella work scene? An Edward/Tyler face-off? Oh yes. Lol. Maybe Edward can get that bloody lip that you know you want to see… or visualize… Haha. Alright, so that's all I'm willing to tell ya'll as of now. Reviews give me inspiration, so keep them coming. ;) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: (Okay, this is getting repetitive) NO, I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY CHARACTERS AFFILIATED WITH STEPHANIE MEYER'S BRILLIANT PLOTLINE! (other than Brandon and Alex and Danielle… and maybe some other characters;) **

_This takes place a few weeks after last chapter._

--Bella POV--

The light pitter-patter of small feet broke into my peaceful reverie. My eyes remained closed; I refused to let anything interrupt the moment Edward and I were currently having.

We were sitting on the couch, my legs folded under me as I sat sideways on Edward's lap, my head resting on his chest, eyes closed. Edward's arms were wrapped securely around me, his chin resting on my head; his chest rose and fell evenly beneath me as we sat in a sleep-like state.

The footsteps drew closer, accompanied by a light snickering and then a shushing sound. I suppressed the urge to groan and tightened my arms around Edward's back, unwilling to move from the position.

I could feel a corner of Edward's mouth turn up into a smirk as he rubbed small circles on my thigh with his thumb, letting me know he knew they were coming.

The footsteps stopped shortly, a few feet away from us, before they slowly started coming closer and closer to us.

"Don't you even dare," Edward growled playfully, his eyes still closed as we didn't move. Our would-be attackers jumped back quickly, squealing in surprise.

I opened my eyes then to see Brandon and Alex looking back at me, their eyes wide and their hands stretched out as if to grab Edward and I. Turning my head to look at Edward, I saw that his eyes were still closed. I looked back at Brandon and Alex, pulling my hand from behind Edward's back to bring it to my lips and wink at the boys.

I turned in Edward's lap and brought my hands to his sides and started tickling him. Edward jerked in surprise and opened his eyes, squirming under my hands.

"Bella, you are evil," he gasped when I finally stopped. Brandon and Alex were doubled up on the floor laughing and I let a few giggles escape my lips.

"I'm sorry, Edward," I said innocently, batting my lashes at him.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure I'll find _some_ way to get back at you," he said suggestively, making my heart skip a beat as he leaned forward so his lips grazed the base of my neck.

I glanced down at the boys in concern, but they were too busy laughing to have seen or heard anything, so I turned my attention back toward Edward as I slid off his lap so that I was sitting next to him. "Who said I would let you do anything like that?" I said as I stood up to walk away, but Edward's hands shot out, grabbing my waist and pulling me back down on him so that I was straddling his legs.

"I know you will," Edward whispered against my lips that ached to feel his.

"How so?" I asked breathlessly.

"I know that you enjoyed last time too thoroughly to not 'let me do that.'" Edward said gruffly, kissing my lips quickly before releasing my hips to give me the choice to leave if I wanted to, but I was frozen in place. I wanted to tell him just how much I enjoyed the last time, how much I was looking forward to it happening again, how I wanted to take him right there, but my son and my little brother were in the room.

"Well doesn't someone think mighty highly of himself?" I said instead, turning my head away, hoping he bought my bluff. "In all honesty, you weren't as good as I remembered you to be."

I allowed myself a quick glance at his face as I stood up and backed away. His face was a mask of shock and disbelief. I struggled to compose myself and turned to Brandon and Alex.

"Who wants a cookie?" I asked, patting Brandon's head affectionately as both he and Alex jumped up excitedly.

"Oooh! I do! I do!" Edward exclaimed jokingly, holding his hands above his head in an excited gesture as he shot up from his seat and scooped me up bridal style, running me into the kitchen before sitting at the table and looking at me expectantly as the boys followed his lead, staring up at me from the table.

"I thought I was watching two kids, not three," I muttered as I pulled the cookies out of the pantry, turning around to walk right into Edward's chest. He wrapped his arms around me to catch me before I fell to the ground and pulled me back into him.

"What am I ever going to do with you, Isabella?" Edward asked, kissing my forehead sweetly.

"Love me," I whispered, closing my eyes and leaning into Edward's kiss.

--Edward POV--

"Love me," she whispered quietly, sighing against my chest.

"Forever," I murmured, pulling her face up to kiss her soundly.

"Bella, can we have our cookies now?" Alex asked timidly from the kitchen table, where he and Brandon were sitting, looking bored.

Bella pulled away from me quickly, blushing furiously, and cleared her throat.

"Right. Cookies. Sorry," Bella said, turning back to the pantry to look for the cookies.

"Bella, sweetie. You've already got them in your hand," I pointed out, sliding my hands around her waist. Bella turned around and smiled at me, sidestepping me to give the boys their cookies.

"Here you go," Bella said, putting the cookies on the table in front of them.

"Thanks Momma," Brandon said happily as Alex nodded his head and they both took a few cookies and started eating.

I walked up behind Bella and sat down at the table, pulling her down in my lap and wrapping my hands around her stomach as I rested my head on her shoulder and watched as my son devoured his cookies.

_My son._ I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing those words… or thinking them, at least.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella whispered in my ear. I kissed the side of her head softly and continued looking at Brandon.

"I was just thinking about how cool it is to be a dad," I answered. "I wonder if this is how you felt when you first had Brandon."

"When I first had Brandon, I mostly felt tired," Bella smiled. "But I was really happy and proud and scared out of my mind that I would do something wrong."

"Yeah that's pretty much how I feel. Well, minus the really tired part," I said.

"Mmm, you kind of skipped out on the hysterical baby screaming and crying in the middle of the night part of parenthood," Bella chuckled as I buried my face in the back of her neck sadly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that…"

"Bella, relax," I sighed. "I'm fine, but I do regret not being here. I'll never fully forgive myself for leaving you before."

Bella turned around suddenly and looked me in the eyes. "Look here, Edward Anthony Cullen. You put too much blame on yourself. Granted, it was a really screwed up thing to do, but you had good intentions, you just… went about it the wrong way. But leave the past behind you and just be glad that you're here now. Because I am," she said softly, threading her fingers through mine and kissing the back of my hand lovingly.

"I missed out on a lot these past few years, but I'm going to make it up to you. You're probably going to get fed up with me with how often I'll be around," I said honestly, smiling sadly.

"Edward, I could never get tired of you," Bella sighed, resting her head on my chest as I returned my attention to Brandon and Alex, who were just polishing off the last of their cookies. "I love you too much."

I smiled when she said this and pressed my lips to her temple. "I love you too."

Brandon and Alex got up from the table and went back upstairs to play some more. Bella and I stood up and I let her lead me over to the couch, where I immediately flopped down, lying down across the length of it. I shot my hands out and grabbed Bella's waist, pulling her to lie down next to me, halfway on top of me.

--Bella POV--

I rested my head on his chest and sighed contentedly as I listened to his steady breathing.

"Love, can I ask you something?" I looked up to see Edward's green eyes looking down at me curiously.

"Sure," I answered, shrugging as I shimmied my way up Edward's body so that we were face-to-face. I felt Edward wince and looked in his eyes; he looked aroused from the friction my body had created. I smiled apologetically and laid my head on the couch as Edward turned us so that we were resting on our sides.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I mean, it's not really any of my business to know," Edward said softly, brushing his hand across my face lightly, lovingly.

"Ask me anything," I whispered, leaning my face into his hand.

"Well, I was just wondering… why you never dated after I left…?" Edward asked cautiously, obviously afraid that this was a tough subject for me, but I just smiled softly and answered.

"Well you see, there was this guy I was kind of hung up on; my high school sweetheart? And, well, I just didn't want anyone if I couldn't have him," I said, leaning forward to kiss his chin lightly before adding, "Plus, a single young woman with a toddler on her hip is kind of a turn-off for most guys these days."

Edward looked guilty for a moment, until he saw that I was completely fine with it. Then he smiled cockily. "Well then, I guess it's a good thing I knocked you up when I did," he smirked. I laughed and slapped his arm playfully.

"I guess so," I chuckled, leaning closer in to Edward's body to capture his lips with my own. I meant for it to be a short, sweet, innocent kiss, really I did, but when Edward started to pull away, I only attacked him with more vigor, clinging to his forearms as I opened my mouth eagerly.

I felt Edward smile against my lips as he let his tongue slip into my mouth and we both sighed together in complete ecstasy as our tongues battled for dominance inside of my mouth.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, making out, but all of a sudden, I pulled away from Edward when I heard the awkward clearing of a throat. Edward and I both sat up hurriedly, me sitting on his lap, and turned to look at our visitors. I was blushing furiously, while Edward was just a light shade of pink that I knew was more from the heat of the previous moment than from embarrassment.

"Hey Daddy," I said weakly, clearing my throat as my father looked from Edward to me, his face an odd shade of purple. I was worrying that he was going to flip out and kill Edward when he suddenly started chuckling nervously.

"Huh. Well this is awkward," Charlie said, rubbing the back of his neck as Danielle smiled easily beside him and I nodded my head slightly, disentangling myself from Edward and pulling down my shirt, which had apparently ridden up during our little make-out session earlier.

"We were just coming to get Alex," Danielle said sweetly, her voice soft. "He's got a doctor's appointment in an hour."

Hearing that seemed to break Edward out of some sort of reverie and he jumped up from the couch.

"I have work in like half an hour!" he exclaimed, running up the stairs to change his clothes, I assumed. I smiled slightly at the thought that my closet was twice as full as it used to be, seeing as Edward had almost as many clothes here as he had at his parents' house. Barely a minute had passed and Edward was already stumbling back down the stairs in a set of light blue scrubs, hopping in the middle of the foyer as he tried to put one of his shoes on. He groaned, running back up the stairs and I heard him saying a hurried goodbye to Brandon before he was downstairs again and out the door.

I smiled and walked over to the table by the door, wrapping my hand around a soft, brown wallet as my father and Danielle just stared after Edward like he was crazy. Before they could say anything, the door opened again and Edward came back in, looking around frantically as I held the wallet out in front of him wordlessly, a smirk in place on my lips as he grabbed it from my hand and pecked me on the cheek before rushing outside again.

Seconds later, he was back inside, his arms around my waist and pulling my body to his. Edward swooped down and covered my lips with his own in a passionate kiss. I wasn't even embarrassed that he was kissing me like that in front of my dad and Danielle as I kissed him back. All too soon, he was pulling away, whispering in my ear that he loved me and would see me later and he was gone again. This time, we heard the car start and drive away, knowing he was really gone.

"Is he always this crazy when he goes to work?" Charlie asked as Danielle looked on, amused.

"Yep," I smiled. "Just imagine how he'll be when he gets to the hospital and realizes that today's his day off."

**Wow, it's been FOREVER since I updated this story, huh? I'm terribly sorry about that too, but I just got stuck. This chapter really kind of sucks, I know, but… at least it's an update? Haha. I'm really sorry, again. Please comment me so I can know if I still have people interested in my writing. Also, if you want to ask me any questions, go right ahead. I'll gladly answer them. It's not my longest chapter, I know. Sorry, but you know you still love me... XD  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**So so so so sorry for the major long delay since I've updated this story. But... I'm going to make it up to you in this chapter... hopefully. I hope you all still love me? And my story? Please review and let me know you're still with me. Sorry if there are any mistakes you find. I have been trying to write this chapter for... God I don't even know how long. Since I posted the last chapter. A long time ago then...  
**

--Edward POV--

I was at the door to my car, about to get in it to go to work when I realized that today was my day off. Bella knew it, too. I was sure of it; she loved to see me freak out before work. I smacked myself in the forehead, rolling my eyes as I turned around to go back inside, but I froze, keys in my hands. This was the perfect opportunity to set up my surprise for Bella. I'd been meaning to get around to it for a few days now, but I never found time. But this was the time. I smiled and slid into my car and drove off.

A few minutes later, I skidded into the driveway at my parents' house, grateful to learn that there was no one home. I ran up the stairs to my bedroom and opened the top drawer of my dresser and pulled out a small box.

I turned around quickly, trying to think of anything else I needed and froze when I caught sight of the extremely short woman standing in my doorway.

Hurriedly placing the box behind my back as Alice danced toward me, I put on an innocent expression.

"Whatcha hiding?" Alice sang, peering around my back to see what I held there, but I moved so that she couldn't see.

"None of your business," I said, painfully aware that we were behaving childishly. She tried to step around me, but I took a step in return, blocking her access as we formed our own kind of dance.

"Just let me see the damn box," Alice exclaimed after a few minutes of trying to get around me to see what I had behind my back. I shrank under my older sister's harsh glare and slowly held the box out to her.

Alice opened the box eagerly and gasped. "Edward! How in the… where… when? When? When did you get this?" she stuttered.

"A few years ago," I shrugged bashfully. "It made me think of Bella. I'm going to give it to her tonight."

"What do you have planned? Please, please, please let me help you!" Alice begged and I rolled my eyes, nodding.

"Fine. But don't go too overboard, alright?" I pleaded. "What are you doing here anyway? And where is everyone else?"

"They all took Brandon to the park, but I just had a feeling that it would be better if I stayed here. I was right!" Alice exclaimed as she handed the box back to me and I slid it into the pocket of my black pants for safekeeping.

--Bella POV--

I was starting to get a little worried. It had been over two hours since Edward had left and he still wasn't back. I didn't like this feeling, the feeling of not knowing where Edward was or when he would be back. It reminded me too much of when he left me, but I pushed that thought away. Edward was probably just… helping out at the hospital even though he didn't have work.

I was in my room, sprawled across my bed as I waited for Edward to get home. Brandon was out with Emmett and Rosalie, who were sure to keep him entertained and then he was going to spend the night at the Cullen house.

"I'm bored," I muttered, throwing my hand across my eyes as I tried to think of something to do until Edward got back from wherever he was.

_I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top…_ Alice's ring tone rang from my phone. I scrambled for the phone, eager for something to do.

**Alice/**_Bella_

_Hello?_

**Bella! Oh my gosh you are going to love my brother when he gets back, I swear to God!**

_Alice? What are you talking about? I already love him. I thought you saw the future, not things everyone else already knows. _I rolled my eyes, thinking of my best friend's crazy belief that she could see the future.

**No! It's not that, it's what Edward has planned for you!**

Alice's high-pitched squeal had me pulling the phone away from my ear. _Really? Well what does he have planned?_

Before Alice could respond, I heard the sound of a door slamming downstairs before a pair of feet thudded up the stairs in a hurry and Edward ran into my room, pulling the phone out of my hands.

"Alice Elizabeth Cullen Whitlock, you hang up the phone right now!" Edward growled into the phone, snapping it shut and tossing it onto the bedside table, his eyes raking over my body.

With a jolt I realized that I must have looked sensual sprawled across the bed in a pair of short white shorts and a dark blue wife beater. I smirked at him and raised myself up on my elbows, my exposed legs still stretching out toward the end of the bed.

"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to say hi?" I said in what I hoped was a seductive tone.

Edward looked torn for a moment before he crawled across the bed to me, kissing me lightly on the lips before he pulled away. "Hello, Love," he whispered.

I pouted, hoping for more than just a little kiss, but Edward chuckled and shook his head. "We have to leave soon. I got us reservations at that Italian restaurant we used to go to all the time," he said, wistfully glancing down my body again. "I swear, if I had known that you would look so very tempting when I got back, I wouldn't have made any reservations."

"So the dinner is what I'm going to love you for?" I asked, looking at Edward carefully. His eyebrows pulled together as he looked at me.

"What are you talking about, Love? I hope you love me for a little bit more than just some Italian food," Edward said as he looked at me, thoroughly confused.

"Never mind. It's just something Alice said," I replied, shaking my head. "And of course I love you for so much more than Italian food."

"Good," Edward smiled breathtakingly at me. "Now go get changed so we can go eat."

"Are you sure you don't want to just stay here?" I asked, rubbing my hand down Edward's chest slowly as I smiled up at him and bit my lip lightly. I knew he would insist on going, but I wanted to tease him a bit first.

"Bella," Edward groaned and pulled back, just as I knew he would. "Please don't tempt me." He stood up from the bed and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Fine," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and pretending to pout.

"Sweetheart, seriously. Please stop pouting. You have no clue how badly I want you right now, but we really have to go," Edward said seriously, taking my hands in his.

"Alright, alright. I'm going, I'm going," I groaned, hoisting myself from the bed to go get dressed. I walked over to the closet and started to pull out a pair of black pants, but Edward came over to me and grabbed my wrist, directing it to a black dress I hadn't known was in my closet.

"You should wear this," he whispered in my ear, his close proximity making me shiver as I took the dress and turned to look at him, taking in his clothing for the first time.

Edward was wearing black dress pants and a black shirt. If it had been anyone else wearing it, the outfit wouldn't have looked too formal, but Edward had a way of making a pair of jeans and a T-shirt look classy.

"You look really good," I managed to get out after trailing my eyes up and down his body repeatedly. I tore my eyes away from ogling his body and looked up at his face; he was smirking at me in amusement.

"Thank you. Now please go and get dressed?" Edward pleaded, giving me a gentle push in the direction of the bathroom, but I stopped in front of him, handing him the dress, which he took out of confusion.

I turned to look at him and placed my hands on either side of my waist, grabbing onto the hem of my shirt and pulling it over my head, revealing my blue lace bra, which I unhooked and dropped to the floor with my shirt. Edward's eyes were wider than I thought possible as he took in my topless form. I smirked and slowly slid my shorts down my legs, revealing my blue panties that matched my bra.

I walked away from Edward, ignoring the hiss he made as he watched me walk away from him, swaying my hips more than was necessary and reached into the dresser for my black strapless bra, which I quickly slid on. Then I walked back over to Edward and held my hand out for the dress, which Edward held out to me dumbly. I removed it from the hanger and flung the wooden hanger over my shoulder as I slid the dress over my head, letting it fall into place around me.

Edward made a small noise somewhere between a growl of disapproval at my antics and a whimper at the fact that I had covered up every inch of my skin. He then turned away from me and quickly strode from the room and down the stairs. After gathering my phone and wallet and putting them in a little black clutch purse, I followed suit and found Edward leaning against the wall at the foot of the stairs, his eyes on me as I walked toward him.

"Hello," I said quietly as I stopped in front of him.

"Why hello there, my love. You look gorgeous," he said softly, taking my hand in his and kissing it gently. "Shall we leave?"

I nodded and let him lead me out the door to his car. "The Aston Martin?" I said, hesitating outside of the shiny black car.

"Yes," he said, opening the passenger door for me and helping me into the low seat. "Only the best for you, dear."

"Oh, you spoil me," I joked, laughing as he ran around the car and slid into the driver's seat as quickly as possible. Then we were on our way, talking about random things until we reached the restaurant, which I was surprised to see had an empty parking lot.

"Is it open?" I asked, unsure as I took the hand Edward offered and let him help me out of the car.

"Of course it is," Edward said offhandedly. "I reserved the whole restaurant."

"What?!" I exclaimed, shocked, as he lead me toward the door. "Edward Anthony Cullen! That's ridiculous! How long have you had this planned?"

"Well… sweetheart… I only planned this a few hours ago. You know, when you let me go to work knowing that I didn't have work today. Yeah, that's when I planned this. Consider tonight my payback," Edward said proudly as he held the door to the restaurant open for me.

I blushed, knowing that he had found me out and looked around the empty building. There weren't even any workers around, but there was a table in the center of the main room that was set for two, with warm food already set on the table. I shook my head as I imagined how perfect the timing had been.

Edward pulled my chair out for me and I smiled gratefully at him as I sat down. He then walked around the table to sit across from me and opened the bottle of champagne that was sitting in the wine cooler on the edge of the table and poured a glass for me and one for himself.

I giggled as he held out his glass to me, clinking it with mine before taking a sip. "Eat, please," he said and I realized that he was suddenly nervous for some reason unbeknownst to me.

I smiled at him and raised my fork obediently, turning it toward the plate in front of me. I laughed as I realized that he had had the same food prepared for us that we had ordered on our first date here.

Spearing a mushroom ravioli, I brought it to my lips and sighed contentedly as I savored the delicious flavor.

"This is amazing. Even better than I remember," I sighed, looking across the table at Edward, who was staring at me with a strange look on his face. "What? Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh! Yeah," Edward said, jumping to action and starting to eat the pasta dish that sat in front of him, his eyes never leaving my face.

"Okay, please tell me what you're staring at," I sighed, putting my fork down after I finished eating the delicious desert that seemed to materialize on the table when I finished my ravioli.

"You," Edward said simply. I rolled my eyes. "No, really. I am astounded by your beauty tonight."

Edward took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself for something, and dipped his right hand into his pocket as his left hand held mine over the table. He pulled a velvet box from his pocket and slid it across the table to me.

I took a shaky breath as I looked at the small square box, not daring to hope for what I wished it was. I looked up at Edward questioningly and he nodded for me to open the box.

When I did open the box, my breath came whooshing out as I took in the sight of the beautiful diamond ring that sat in front of me. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and took the ring out of the box, holding it carefully in the palm of my quivering hand.

I looked up at Edward, who was regarding me cautiously and smiled a watery smile at him. He seemed to take heart from my reaction and pushed himself out of his chair and walked around the table to kneel at the side of my chair, which I quickly pushed back, angling myself to face him.

"_Isabella Swan?" He looked up at me through his impossibly long lashes, his eyes soft, but somehow still scorching. "I promise to love you forever— every single day of forever. Will you marry me?" _– Eclipse pg. 460 :)

My breath caught in my chest as I looked down at him, tears now streaming steadily down my face. Unable to speak, I stood up and simply nodded my head as an adorable, breathtaking grin appeared on Edward's face as he got up and wrapped his arms around my body before he pulled away and covered my lips with his own in a kiss that portrayed all his love for me.

He pulled out of the kiss first and took the ring out of my hand, sliding it onto my left ring finger. I smiled happily through my tears as he kissed my hand and started to lead me to the car.

Before I knew it, we had pulled up in front of my house and he was helping me out of the car. As we walked slowly toward the door, hand in hand, I kept stealing glances down at the beautiful ring on my finger.

Once we were inside, Edward closed the door behind us and locked it before slowly leading me up the stairs. Suddenly, I felt nervous, which was ridiculous, I realized, since it wasn't as if this was the first time we had made love. But it was the first time we would make love while I wore a diamond on my left hand.

"Bella, I love you so much," Edward whispered as he drew me into my bedroom – our bedroom – and shut the door softly behind me.

"I love you too," I replied breathlessly as he pulled my body closer to his and pressed his lips to mine before feathering light kisses all over my face, all the while pushing me back towards the bed.

Soon I was lying down on the soft bed with Edward hovering over me, his hands softly caressing every inch of my body through the material of my dress. I felt myself staring to get hot and whimpered as his hands grazed my breasts.

Edward smiled and slid his hand under my dress as he sat back on his knees, allowing me to kneel in front of him so we could remove my dress together. As soon as it was off, we let it fall to the floor at the side of the bed and I laid back down, my hands immediately reaching for the buttons on Edward's shirt, which I quickly got off of him and dropped to the floor with my dress.

I kissed him under his jaw as I reached down to start unbuttoning Edward's pants and slowly slid the zipper down, feeling his arousal through the material of his pants. Then that material was gone and the only thing left to hide him from me was his boxer shorts. I slid my fingers under the waistband and quickly pushed them down as I placed a soft kiss on Edward's lips.

Edward reached behind me to remove my bra and then trailed his hands down to rid me of my panties so we were both laying there in all our glory. We didn't waste time on foreplay, wanting to focus on showing each other how much we loved each other.

As Edward slid inside of me, I lifted my hand to caress his cheek gently, lovingly as our bodies moved together. I didn't know where I ended and Edward began, but I wasn't really concerned about it as I focused on loving Edward. My Edward.

There was a slow climb to the finish as opposed to some of our previous races to climax and when we finally reached the edge, we allowed ourselves to be swept away together in the waves of pleasure.

It was the single, most beautiful experience of my life and I would always remember it. After our bodies stopped quaking from the feelings, we held each other through the night as we slept on and off, occasionally waking up together to start another love-making session.

**Yellow! I know it's been forever since I updated anything and I apologize. Writer's block and whatnot, you know? The beginning of this chapter is not that great, I know. I've been working on it for a good few weeks. It's gotten pretty annoying, but I have the next chapter well underway. **

**Anyway… Thank you for reading! Ha, so yes. How did you like this? You should… review and tell me. Yes. I agree with myself. Mhm. So… I have these other stories, right? And they are in desperate need of some love and attention! So you should go to my profile thing and read all of them? And review them too? Because, you know… I do love reviews.**

**Oh and… if Bella and Edward have another kid… I need some names. Boy and girl names, okay? Leave them in reviews! **


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